It barely seems like yesterday that we were getting excited then deflated by the Rugby World Cup but time marches on and World Rugby has launched the Irish and UK rights tender for broadcasting the 2019 version of the tournament to take place in Japan.
The last such tender heralded a see change in the terrestrial broadcast of the sport with TV3 and ITV both winning the right to broadcast in 2015, shining through their coverage and subsequently winning the right to broadcast the RBS 6 Nations, taking over or sharing with long established partners in RTÉ and the BBC.
Rugby World Cup 2015 was the most widely viewed rugby event ever, up 48 per cent over New Zealand in 2011, with live viewership through 106 broadcasters reaching nearly 724 million homes worldwide.
The Ireland and UK markets were at the heart of the success story with Rugby World Cup programming achieving heavyweight viewing figures across both markets and broadcasters reporting strong ad sales returns.
With rugby continuing to achieve record participation and interest growth around the world, the governing body of the global sport believes that the market for the 2019 rights is set to remain strong.
In Ireland, TV3 attracted its biggest-ever audiences for Rugby World Cup 2015 matches involving the Ireland team, while Rugby World Cup matches delivered three of the top four broadcast audiences of the year.
In the UK, host broadcaster ITV achieved peak audiences reaching 11.5m for England’s matches against Fiji, Wales and Australia and the final. The total UK three-minute reach was 40.2 million, while the 15-minute reach was just under 34 million, demonstrating just how Rugby World Cup 2015 captured the imagination across the host nation.
World Rugby has issued bidding information to interested parties in both markets and bids for Rugby World Cup 2019 as a stand-alone or coupled with Rugby World Cup 2023 will be considered.
The Rights Holding Broadcaster for each market will be announced later this year.
TV3, with stronger financial backing that was in place for 2015, will certainly be interested as will RTE. It is also possible that eir will at least look for the tender document as it continues its plans for the TV market following the purchase last year of Setanta Sports.
“Rugby World Cup 2015 was a very special and record-breaking tournament,” said World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper.
“Central to its success was the reach and appeal of the tournament through our broadcast partners in the UK and Ireland, where record rugby audiences were achieved.”
“We are inviting all interested parties to enter the process and look forward to appointing our rights holding broadcasters for these important markets later in the year.”
