- The current UK deal with BBC and ITV expires at the end of the 2025 tournament
- An urge to be flexible is likely to lead to willingness to revamp current schedule
- Tournament organisers are mindful of the popularity to a mainstream audience
The Six Nations will consider staging an increased number of night matches, in an effort to attract a strong bid from free-to-air broadcasters and remain available to a mass audience.
Officials are preparing to pitch TV rights packages in the coming months, after the current UK deal with BBC and ITV expires at the end of the 2025 championship campaign. It is understood that the intention is to find a balance between ‘reach and revenue’, and that terrestrial broadcasters will be encouraged to pitch for a ‘prime-time’ product.
Europe’s leading unions will be urged to be flexible and innovative, which is likely to equate to a willingness to revamp a tried-and-trusted schedule. The long-standing tradition for afternoon games could give way to a greater emphasis on floodlit occasions when viewing figures are at their peak.
Despite a widespread expectation that rugby’s popular annual showpiece will end up on subscription channels sooner or later, tournament organisers are mindful of the fact that it acts as a precious shop window for the sport.
Sources involved in the rights deal process are adamant that a move away from free-to-air is no formality, although the Six Nations is not given protected status as one of the government’s so-called ‘Crown Jewel’ sporting events.
The task of securing a new rights deal has been delayed by the desire to wrap the Six Nations into a package with the new Nations Championship. That biennial global league is still being hastily set up, with meetings scheduled between northern and southern unions late next month.
Six Nations organisers are set to consider more night matches in a bid to attract broadcasters
The current UK deal – held with ITV and BBC – expires at the end of the 2025 championship
From next year, the tournament will be held across six weeks rather than seven – pictured: England head coach Steve Borthwick
The hope is that final details can be ironed out then, including confirmation that Fiji and Japan are to be invited to join the inaugural edition next year, along with the Six Nations and Rugby Championship sides.
All parties are aware of the need to hurry. The Nations Championship is destined to be a major logistical exercise, especially in July each year. And Six Nations 2026 fixtures can’t be released until the rights deal is in place – due to the need to work with broadcast partners on exact timings.
From next year, the championship will be reduced to a six-week slot rather than the existing seven, meaning only one rest week. It will begin at the start of February as normal, but finish earlier in March.
There are no plans to shift its place in the calendar. In due course, officials may be open to considering the option of taking matches to other parts of the world, to tap into new markets – but such a radical step is not in prospect in the near future.
