Six Nations look to lure Sky by bundling TV rights with Lions
The Six Nations unions are in talks with the British and Irish Lions about bundling their TV rights for the next four-year cycle.
European unions have already sold TV rights for the Six Nations between 2026 and 2029 in a joint deal with ITV and BBC, but have yet to go to market with their rights for the Nations Championship, the new competition featuring three summer Tests and three in the autumn against southern hemisphere opposition which starts next year.
The British and Irish Lions rights for the 2029 tour of New Zealand are also up for grabs and City AM has learned that the touring team’s chiefs have been approached by the unions about selling them together.
Rugby’s rights market has been challenging in recent years, with Sky Sports reducing its coverage and TNT Sports declining to bid for the European Champions Cup and Challenge Cups, which are now broadcast by Premier Sports.
Sky has had exclusive live rights for Lions tours since 1997 however, with the unions reasoning that bundling the rights could persuade them to also bid for the Nations Championship.
But the Lions may choose to continue selling their TV rights on an individual basis, particularly if Sky are reluctant to expand their rugby coverage to include the SIx Nations.
Lord’s faces challenge to retain WTC final
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is planning to run a formal process to determine which ground hosts future editions of the World Test Championship final after being told by global chiefs the ICC last week that the biennial event will stay in England.
India had expressed interest in staging the 2027 WTC final, but with a June date established in a congested calendar the ICC has concluded that England’s summer climate and strong record of ticket sales for neutral matches makes them the best hosts.
Lord’s owner the MCC is eager to secure a long-term staging agreement for the next three finals after hosting the WTC final for the first time when South Africa earned a shock victory over Australia last week, but the ECB will offer the chance for other venues to stake a claim.
Hampshire’s Utilita Bowl hosted the first WTC final in 2021 with just 4,000 spectators in attendance each day to watch New Zealand beat India due to Covid regulations, with the Oval selling out all five days in 2023 when Australia also beat India.
Lord’s attracted impressive crowds of 25,000 each day last week despite India’s failure to reach the final, but the MCC has been told it must enter a formal process due to the ECB’s responsibility to other stakeholders.
Wimbledon boosted by World Cup expansion
The All England Club has found itself an unlikely beneficiary of Fifa’s decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams next year.
As a result of the growth of the tournament to 104 matches played over four-and-a-half weeks in the US, Canada and Mexico, the final will no longer clash with the climax of the men’s Championship at Wimbledon, with the Gentleman’s Singles final taking place on 12 July – seven days before the World Cup final in New Jersey.
With a potential clash avoided, Wimbledon chiefs have been able to cash in by putting back the start of the men’s final to 4pm in a move that has been welcomed by their main broadcast partners on both sides of the Atlantic, the BBC and ESPN, as well as their sponsors.
A 4pm start on World Cup final day would have been a huge risk for Wimbledon, with anything other than a three-set match leading to a clash with the world’s biggest sporting event.
Hundred deals near sign-off at last
The investment groups buying stakes in the eight Hundred franchises are now ready to sign the so-called participation agreements with England cricket chiefs following over four months of negotiations.
Despite hold-ups caused by queries raised by the Ambani family and the so-called “tech titans”, who are buying into Oval Invincibles and London Spirit respectively, all eight are likely to sign contracts at the same time.
The participation agreements with the ECB relate to the governance and structure of the Hundred with the small print now in place, but the investors still need to finalise shareholder agreements with the host venues.
These talks will relate to the individual operation of each franchise, including details such as team names, management structures and commercial arrangements, and could drag on for months in some cases.
Given the new ownership arrangements vary in complexity some will be agreed before others, with the Sun Group’s 100 per cent purchase of Headingley-based franchise the Northern Superchargers likely to be among the first to be completed.
Madrid prove Real deal for ticket demand
Real Madrid appear to be by far the biggest draw at the Club World Cup, judging by the secondary ticketing market.
Fifa has been tight-lipped on the thorny subject of ticket sales, beyond releasing the far from surprising information that the top five ticketing markets so far are the US, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Canada in that order.
Ticket marketplace Viagogo has provided more data to City AM, however, including the remarkable statistic that tickets for Real Madrid’s three group games have contributed 25 per cent of the platform’s total sales.
Real’s fixtures are responsible for three of its top five best-selling games, with Viagogo selling tickets to customers in 86 different countries to date, suggesting that despite widespread cynicism the Club World Cup does have some genuine global appeal.