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MUMBAI:
UK-based pay TV broadcaster Sky Sports has bagged five-year
live telecast rights of England Rugby from Rugby Football
Union (RFU).
Under
the agreement, beginning 2010, all England matches played
at home or overseas - outside the RBS 6 Nations and Rugby
World Cup - will be exclusively live on Sky Sports.
The
deal includes online rights. Live matches will be simulcast
on Sky Sports channels on Sky Player – the online TV
service.
RFU
CEO 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 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."
Sky
Sports MD Vic Wakeling said, "This deal means that we
have top-class international rugby through to the end of the
2014-15 seasons. They will be exciting years for England under
Martin Johnson, and we are delighted to be a part of it. We
have internationals at all levels - from Under-18s and Saxons,
through to the senior team - and we hope to see some outstanding
talent coming through."
Sky's
Rugby Union line-up includes live coverage of international,
European and domestic competition with the Heineken Cup and
European Challenge Cup, the Guinness Premiership and, at international
level, England's Autumn Internationals, the Tri-Nations and
next summer's British and Irish Lions Tour to South Africa.
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