Chinese free-to-air sports broadcaster CCTV5 Plus has acquired rights to the English Premiership club rugby union competition.
The four-year deal was brokered by the league’s media-rights agency, RDA. The Premiership will become the first club rugby union tournament to air on national television in China.
The partnership begins with Leicester Tigers’ game against Saracens on December 24.
Beijing Elite Rugby will produce Mandarin commentary for live matches and a weekly highlights show. CCTV5 Plus will broadcast at least 25 Premiership matches per season, plus the semi-finals and final of the competition.
Premiership Rugby’s commercial director, Dominic Hayes, said: “This is a very significant day in the history of Premiership Rugby. Launching on free-to-air TV in China is part of our strategic goal of increasing the global impact of Premiership Rugby and helping to grow the game in new countries around the world. CCTV5 Plus reaches 400 million households and this will lead to a huge increase in rugby’s exposure, in a new and very exciting market.
“Today’s news is the culmination of a great deal of hard work and is further testament to RDA’s commitment to delivering unparalleled global distribution for our property.”
To date, the 2015 Rugby World Cup is the only rugby union tournament to have been broadcast in China.