Six Nations TV rights: What rugby’s new agreement means for fans

Six Nations TV rights will be sold alongside other major international rugby competitions from 2030 under a new commercial agreement between the northern and southern hemisphere unions.

The arrangement brings the Six Nations, Rugby Championship, British and Irish Lions tours and Nations Championship into a shared revenue model, with the unions aiming to increase income from broadcasting and sponsorship.

For supporters, there is no immediate change of channel. Existing broadcast contracts remain in place through 2029, and no broadcaster has been announced for the new television rights cycle.

How will the Six Nations TV rights agreement work?

The Six Nations and Sanzaar unions will sell their media and commercial rights collectively through a new rights management agency.

Southern hemisphere unions will share in income generated by the Six Nations and Lions tours. European unions will benefit from the Rugby Championship and the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series between New Zealand and South Africa.

The model builds on the Nations Championship, whose rights are already sold collectively. Its 10 founding unions are England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Argentina.

RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney explained the proposed structure in comments reported by The Guardian.

“In effect, we are creating a commercial rights agency which sits underneath the 10 Nations Championship founding unions,” he said.

When will rugby’s new broadcast arrangements begin?

Sponsorship and other commercial arrangements are expected to be affected from 2028. Television rights sales follow two years later, once the existing agreements have run their course.

Date	What it means
2028	New approach expected to affect sponsorship and commercial deals
Through 2029	Existing Six Nations and Sanzaar broadcast contracts remain in place
2030 onwards	Next television rights cycle begins under the pooled sales approach

Broadcasters will be offered the opportunity to bid for the Six Nations, Rugby Championship and Nations Championship together. Tailored packages will also be available, meaning the agreement does not necessarily put every competition on one channel or streaming service.

Will the Six Nations remain on free-to-air TV?

The new agreement does not announce the UK broadcaster for the Six Nations from 2030. It establishes how the rights will be marketed, rather than who will ultimately buy them.

The BBC and ITV share the current UK Six Nations coverage. ITV also holds the Nations Championship rights for its first two editions, in 2026 and 2028.

The official announcement of ITV’s Nations Championship agreement confirmed free-to-air coverage, alongside summer and autumn internationals outside Nations Championship years, through 2029.

Supporters therefore do not need a new subscription because of this announcement. The viewing arrangements for the next cycle will depend on the subsequent rights sales.

Why are the rugby unions pooling their rights?

The unions want to increase the value of their competitions by approaching broadcasters and sponsors together.

Sweeney identified broadcast income as an area the RFU wants to strengthen. “The area we struggle with a bit is broadcast revenues,” he said, in comments reported by The Independent.

The commercial ambition is to offer buyers a broader programme of international rugby while allowing different packages to attract competing bids. Any increase in revenue remains an objective, rather than a guaranteed outcome.

Does the agreement affect Premiership Rugby?

Premiership Rugby’s domestic broadcasting arrangements are separate from this international agreement.

TNT Sports’ existing deal covers every Premiership match through the end of the 2030-31 season.

ITV’s separate free-to-air agreement covers seven live matches per season, including the final, in 2026-27 and 2027-28.

For current channels and kick-off times, visit our rugby on TV today guide. Follow our international rugby news and Premiership Rugby coverage for further updates.