Sunday Read: The Rise and Fall of Premiership Rugby's TV Revenue
According to media sources, the next TV rights agreement with TNT Sports is worth considerably less than the current deal
It was recently announced that TNT Sports has secured the rights to show every Gallagher Premiership game from 2024 to 2026. According to The Times, each of the 10 Premiership clubs will receive £1m less in TV revenue as a result of the new deal. The current broadcast deal with TNT Sports, which began in 2021, is worth £36.6m per year. From the 2024-2025 season, that figure will decrease to £31.6m per year. So, what has led to this decrease and how much were the previous TV deals worth?
Looking back
The 2010-2013 broadcast deal with Sky and Setanta Sports was worth £54m over three years (£18m per year). As part of the deal, Sky and Setanta gained the rights to show 69 games per season. This deal represented a 45% increase in TV rights revenue compared to the previous agreement, which included only 33 games. As such, the number of live games more than doubled each season under the new agreement.
The 2013-2014 season was a significant milestone for the league as BT Sport (as it was known then) secured the TV rights in a four year deal worth £152 (£38m per year), with up to 69 games included in the agreement with Premiership rugby.
The Peak
BT Sport managed to lock in another four year deal starting in 2017 worth £160m over four seasons. The broadcast also increased the number of live games from 69 to 80 per season. However, all good things must come to an end.
The Fall
Concerns were raised about BT Sport potentially losing the broadcasting rights from 2021 after a negotiation period ended and an initial offer was rejected by the league, while there were also reports that Sky were set to gain the rights and launch a dedicated rugby channel. However, this this never materialised and tournament organisers went back to the negotiating table.
At the end of 2020, BT Sport renewed its broadcasting agreement with Premiership Rugby for three years, continuing to broadcast up to 80 live games per season. Despite the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, TNT Sports did not request a rebate for the 2019-20 season, but the broadcaster did secure a 3 year renewal valued at £110m. This figure was worth £36.6 per year, compared to the £40m in the previous media rights deal. The number of live games included in the deal remained at 80 (11 of which were Premiership Cup fixtures).
The 2024-2026 Package
The reported figures from The Times suggest that the value per season of the new broadcast deal is £31.5m, compared to £36.6m in the previous agreement and the the peak of £40m per year from 2013 to 2021. TNT Sports has also confirmed that it has secured the rights to show every game - a shrewd move by the broadcaster.
The decrease in the value of the new deal can be attributed to a number of factors such as the unfortunate loss of three teams from the league, the removal of relegation (for now) and crucially, the lack of competition for rugby media rights. It is understood that there was little to no competition for the new agreement so it was inevitable that TNT would retain the rights and seems highly likely to hold onto the rights to the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup.
Conclusion
Despite CVC’s considerable investment into the Premiership, it is difficult to see the Gallagher premiership securing a bigger broadcast deal at the end of the 2026 season. The return of promotion and relegation will make the product much more appealing to potential broadcasters, but it remains to be seen if this will be enough to entice more broadcasters such as Sky or Amazon to outbid TNT Sports.