ITV TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BBC SQUEEZE BY SIGNING £90M DEAL TO SHOW ENGLAND RUGBY TESTS UNTIL 2029
ITV are on the brink of signing a £90million deal to broadcast every England rugby Test until 2029.
The free-to-air channel already own the rights to showcase England's Six Nations fixtures and they are in advanced talks to add the new Nations Championship tournament to their roster.
With the BBC's rugby budgets squeezed, ITV are understood to have swooped.
The deal is yet to be finalised but it is highly unlikely that tournament organisers will turn down a lucrative offer with the promise of non-paywalled audiences.
ITV also hold rights for the 2027 World Cup in Australia and bosses have been pleased by recent rugby viewing figures reaching 6million.
England will launch their Nations Championship with a tough Test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth next July, followed by games against Fiji and Argentina.
ITV already have joint rights with the BBC for the Six Nations, with the commercial broadcaster paying the larger share to secure every England match, and that arrangement also gives them 10 of the 15 fixtures overall.
The Nations Championship package is expected to expand that footprint significantly, with ITV set to show all matches involving the Six Nations teams and their major southern hemisphere rivals, including South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Fiji and Japan.
TNT had been viewed as favourites for the Nations Championship rights after showing the autumn internationals for the past two years.
It comes after recent football losses for the broadcaster, with Paramount+ taking TNT's Champions League coverage and Sky Sports winning the Europa League and Conference League packages.
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