Six Nations to go to Sky? - Updated 19th May 2021

[Longshanks]

Local clubs may lose a revenue stream, cos many won't pay for Sky licence as it won't pay for itself.

This is a very good point. Not just Rugby clubs either - any club that enjoys enhanced bar takings thanks to being able to show live 6N matches. Many people don't realise but Sky generally costs a business user over £600 - per month.

[WhitecapTiger]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/51909783

The government has rejected the chance to ensure the Six Nations remains only on free-to-air TV by turning down a call to include the tournament as a category A-listed sporting event.

BBC and ITV currently share coverage under a deal that runs until 2021 and have made another joint bid for coverage from 2022.

However, the Six Nations will remain a category B tournament, meaning live coverage can go behind a paywall provided highlights or a delayed broadcast are shown on terrestrial TV.

[sam16111986]

Local clubs may lose a revenue stream, cos many won't pay for Sky licence as it won't pay for itself.

This is a very good point. Not just Rugby clubs either - any club that enjoys enhanced bar takings thanks to being able to show live 6N matches. Many people don't realise but Sky generally costs a business user over £600 - per month.

I'm surprised it's that cheap to be honest. Be a real shame to see it go behind a paywall. I've got good memories of playing a game early so both sides could watch the game in the club house with food and a pint after.

[Tiglon]

Local clubs may lose a revenue stream, cos many won't pay for Sky licence as it won't pay for itself.

This is a very good point. Not just Rugby clubs either - any club that enjoys enhanced bar takings thanks to being able to show live 6N matches. Many people don't realise but Sky generally costs a business user over £600 - per month.

I'm surprised it's that cheap to be honest. Be a real shame to see it go behind a paywall. I've got good memories of playing a game early so both sides could watch the game in the club house with food and a pint after.

It can be a lot more, it depends on a lot of factors such as post code, type of business etc.

[JP14]

I don’t mind if Channel 4 or Channel 5 chip in just as long as it stays terrestrial!

[BFG]

Local clubs may lose a revenue stream, cos many won't pay for Sky licence as it won't pay for itself.

I thought the same.
You would hope that the RFU would ensure in negotiations that every community and pro club in the country was able to publicly screen England matches for free.
If this was done it might help clubs in the short term.
However I still don't believe that it'd be a good move for future participation numbers and sponsorship with seriously lower viewing figures and therefore could have a negative longer term impact.

[kk20gb30]

A much greater chance now of the tournament vanishing behind a paywall , considering the financial plight of the home Unions ?

[JP14]

Possibly so but it might be a sacrifice worth making in the short term for the benefit of all rugby.

[Longshanks]

Possibly so but it might be a sacrifice worth making in the short term for the benefit of all rugby.

I understand the logic of that argument but hard to see it coming back again.

[Mark62]

Possibly so but it might be a sacrifice worth making in the short term for the benefit of all rugby.

I understand the logic of that argument but hard to see it coming back again.

Agreed once it’s gone it’s gone. Best you could hope for is highlights on free to air.

[JP14]

Believe me I don’t want this to happen, can’t beat the Six Nations on BBC, but out of all the other options right now it might have to be a sacrifice worth making.

I don’t know if this would be an option but I don’t mind the ITV games going to Sky and BBC still showing their games...

[Brutus]

If it does go behind a paywall they've lost me as a spectator. It was all good when I could justify going to the pub to watch the game at the weekend but I travel a lot for work and now I have young children I struggle to justify being away from them for every game during the 6N. Everyone has different priorities but if you are a family man who likes rugby then surely that's an important demographic for the future success of the game, in that we'll pass on that enthusiasm and those rugby values to the kids.

I already pay for BT Sport solely so I can see Tigers play (I do get to the odd game in person with the family before anyone questions my support) so refuse to pay the extortionate fees for Sky.
The upshot is that I haven't seen an England match in the AI's for three years and if the 6N goes the same way I'll start losing interest in the national team - I already prefer watching Tigers these days when I used to get a real buzz watching England. That shift has obviously had nothing to do with the quality of rugby on display! Dare I say it that I prefer the match day experience at WR than that at HQ anyway as the quality of supporters is better - the last time I was at HQ thee was a bit of mist and a southerner in front of us was complaining to his poor Canadian friend throughout the game about the terrible weather....

What would be great is if there was a single subscription that had coverage of all of the rugby union globally, where the fees did not go towards their funding of the overpriced wendyball coverage. I'd quite like to watch Japanese rugby having attended a game when there on business earlier this year and it would be great to be able to watch some games in the pacific islands.

[chipnchase]

Possibly so but it might be a sacrifice worth making in the short term for the benefit of all rugby.

I understand the logic of that argument but hard to see it coming back again.

Agreed once it’s gone it’s gone. Best you could hope for is highlights on free to air.

Sadly you're right. The game will need every penny and one of the biggest cash cows is the 6Ns, what people need to remember is the hundreds of millions of pounds of TV money will filter down into the Prem and grassroots clubs but unfortunately once it goes then terrestrial cannot compete.

Even if the government decided to step in and only allow it to go behind a pay wall for two seasons it would then have an impact on how much sky would be willing to pay.

Overall i think we need to be pushing to bundle all internationals and Prem into one package so spectators don't need to buy multiple subscriptions.

[Longshanks]

I understand the logic of that argument but hard to see it coming back again.

Agreed once it’s gone it’s gone. Best you could hope for is highlights on free to air.

Overall i think we need to be pushing to bundle all internationals and Prem into one package so spectators don't need to buy multiple subscriptions.

I agree from the spectators point of view but expect the main TV rivals would see it differently. Since Feb Sky now sell BT Sport directly and BT sell Sky Sports (via Now TV - a subsidiary of Sky) - they could both see this as a decent revenue earner.

[loretta]

There was a time that I wouldn’t believe it was possible for 6nations rugby to be off terrestrial telly. However, with the loss of Test Match Special from the radio, I now think the days of the sacred sporting events are over.