UK pay-TV broadcaster, Sky Sports, agreed a new five-year deal for the rights to show live England Rugby with the Rugby Football Union (RFU).
Under the agreement, which starts in 2010, all England matches played at home or overseas - outside the RBS 6 Nations and Rugby World Cup - will be broadcast exclusively live on Sky Sports. The deal includes the Autumn Investec Challenge series at Twickenham and Rugby World Cup warm-up matches, plus all away matches, including summer tours to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa over the five-year period.
In addition, Sky will show exclusive live coverage of England Saxons matches, including the Barclays Churchill Cup and Barbarians games, England Under- 20s matches, England Under 18s matches and the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup in England. Starting in 2010-11 there will also be coverage of the County Championship finals , the England Counties XV, the Varsity Match, the Army v Navy match, the IRB World Sevens Series and the Middlesex Sevens.
The broadcaster will also have live match coverage and highlights rights to the RFU's proposed new competitions currently under discussion - the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the Anglo-Welsh Trophy, the Championship (previously National League One) and the National Clubs Championship - which are expected to commence by 2010-11, as well as online rights.
RFU Chief Executive, Francis Baron, said: "We are delighted to have agreed terms with Sky Sports on a new five-year deal, thereby extending our long standing and successful partnership with them. We are particularly pleased that this new agreement extends to coverage of rugby union to the National Divisions and below. It also provides a solid base to our future revenue streams and certainty to our investment programmes."
The deal will take the relationship between the RFU and Sky Sports into an eighteenth year.
