Three Japanese broadcasters sign up for home Rugby World Cup

The 2019 Rugby World Cup will be shown in host nation Japan by broadcasters J Sports, NHK and Nippon TV.

The deals – announced today – were struck by the Dentsu agency. In November 2016, TV Sports Markets reported that Dentsu had acquired rights in Japan to the 2019 Rugby World Cup, in a deal worth 10 times the value of the 2015 rights.

Rights to the 2015 edition were also held by Dentsu and sold to the same three broadcasters: pay-television broadcaster J Sports, public-service broadcaster NHK, and commercial broadcaster Nippon TV.

Of the 48 matches at the 2019 edition, 31 will be shown free-to-air, including the opening match between Japan and Russia, the final, and all of Japan’s matches.