Six Nations Rugby going behind a TV paywall

[iINDOMINUSxx]

Thought the topic to be posted here would be necessary

Six Nations Rugby going behind a TV paywall would be "incredibly dangerous for the Welsh psyche", the minister responsible for sport has said.

Ken Skates told BBC Radio Wales there had to be a balance between profit and audience participation.


Tournament chief executive John Feehan told the Daily Telegraph he was prepared to consider all options when the current BBC deal runs out in 2017.


Sky Sports chief Barney Francis said pay-TV firms were investing in sport.


'Crown jewels'
Responding to a question about the possibility of the rights being sold to a pay-TV organisation, Mr Skates said: "I think it would be incredibly dangerous for the Welsh psyche.


"It's part of our culture to have the Six Nations for free - why put the tournament at risk in this way?"


Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies also called for the games to remain on free-to-air TV, describing Six Nations rugby as "one of the crown jewels" of British sport.


"It would be a hammer blow to fans if the Six Nations were no longer available to the masses on terrestrial TV, and the chief executive of the Six Nations should consider the impact on grassroots sport of moving behind a paywall," he said.


'Sustainable future'
However, Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said that pay-TV companies such as his were investing in British sport and denied that they were to blame for any decline in grassroots participation.


"We're fooling ourselves if we think free-to-air coverage is a panacea to such a broad social issue," he wrote in The Daily Telegraph.


"On the contrary, reaching for a simplistic solution would not only fail to fix the problem, it would undermine the funding that is vital for a healthy and sustainable future for sport.


"Investment is what's needed to nurture inspiration and see that it endures."


Rob Wilson, a sports finance expert from Sheffield Hallam University, told BBC Radio Wales that while sports could gain "tens of millions of pounds" from selling rights to pay-TV, smaller audiences could hit their revenue from advertisers.


Broadcasting is not devolved, but Welsh ministers became involved in a similar debate in 2009.


At that time, then First Minister Rhodri Morgan urged the UK government to make sure Six Nations matches were always shown live on terrestrial TV.

The article was from this link here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-31041407

 

[goodNumber10]

I posted something similar the other week.

It's a very bad move.

 

[Feicarsinn]

I don't see it happening.

 

[goodNumber10]

I don't see it happening.

think it'll come down to how much money they can generate.

 

[smartcooky]

A very bad move indeed.

Rugby did that in NZ back in the mid-1990s with the NPC and Super 12 when Sky took over, and it disenfranchised a lot of Rugby fans. The broadcasters relented by allowing some delayed coverage of matches on free to air channels, but the damage was done and people turned away from the game by the thousands. The crowd numbers dropped from the 30-40,000+ per match they were getting for matches in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to what we see today.

 

[Feicarsinn]

I reckon the unions know what side their bread is buttered on. They may earn a little bit more in the short term, but moving away from a free to air model would be hugely detrimental to future growth. Rugby isn't football, the market is much smaller, newer, and a lot less established. It needs the exposure that being available to all gives it if it wants to keep growing. For example, I don't think the relative boom that Irish rugby has experienced over the past decade could have happened if the games hadn't been on RTÉ and the BBC. Even now I reckon rugby is only a few lean years and a couple of good tournament from the soccer side away from losing an awful lot of interest. Rugby absolutely needs to stay in the public eye if it wants to keep growing.

 

[goodNumber10]

I reckon the unions know what side their bread is buttered on. They may earn a little bit more in the short term, but moving away from a free to air model would be hugely detrimental to future growth. Rugby isn't football, the market is much smaller, newer, and a lot less established. It needs the exposure that being available to all gives it if it wants to keep growing. For example, I don't think the relative boom that Irish rugby has experienced over the past decade could have happened if the games hadn't been on RTÉ and the BBC. Even now I reckon rugby is only a few lean years and a couple of good tournament from the soccer side away from losing an awful lot of interest. Rugby absolutely needs to stay in the public eye if it wants to keep growing.

i agree with you, but i also never underestimate the greed of the RFU.

 

[Peat]

It's not even necessarily about greed. The Unions know they need cash to retain some sort of control over the clubs. Where are they going to get it?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Protect free-to-air TV for Wales at Six nations, Senedd says

But doing that could devastate Welsh rugby, a senior WRU official says.

www.bbc.co.uk

WRU campaigning AGAINST the Six Nations being protected

 

[AlRums]

England tried a few years ago and failed miserably

 

[AlRums]

Six Nations: Call to add championship to free-to-air list rejected

The UK government rejects calls for Six Nations rugby to be added to free-to-air TV list.

www.bbc.co.uk

It was the Welsh wanting to add the six nations to the group A list, and the Welsh complaining that it would be cataclysmic it is not is.

Can't win

 

[Rugbyfan564]

Six Nations: Call to add championship to free-to-air list rejected

The UK government rejects calls for Six Nations rugby to be added to free-to-air TV list.

www.bbc.co.uk

It was the Welsh wanting to add the six nations to the group A list, and the Welsh complaining that it would be cataclysmic it is not is.

Can't win

Well the Welsh government and politicians vs Welsh Rugby. Welsh rugby just want the sky/amazon/Netflix money,

 

[dullonien]

Protect free-to-air TV for Wales at Six nations, Senedd says

But doing that could devastate Welsh rugby, a senior WRU official says.

www.bbc.co.uk

WRU campaigning AGAINST the Six Nations being protected

Reading that it sounds like the WRU don't want to lose the barganing power not having protected status offers i.e. can drive up the price by playing broadcasters againat each other, inc. Pay to view. I can understand that, but it only really works if the threat of actually taking it behind a paywall is serious, which would be catastrophic if it happened imo.

Would be interesting to know how much less BBC etc. have to pay for a sporting event on the Cat A list vs. Cat B. Assume there must be something in place to esure the market value is met? Or I suppose the market value is jusy determined by whatever BBC, C4 and ITV are willing to bid.

 

[Amiga500]

Protect free-to-air TV for Wales at Six nations, Senedd says

But doing that could devastate Welsh rugby, a senior WRU official says.

www.bbc.co.uk

WRU campaigning AGAINST the Six Nations being protected

WRU thick as chump so no surprise.

Sky or BT could still get it - but go on to show it on a free channel. Kinda surprised they don't do that - kinda like a demo channel advertising just how good it could be if you bought their paid packages.

 

[Al Bangor]

2024 Six Nations is streaming on Peacock and being aired on CNBC TV here in the USA.

 

[Mallow]

Putting the 6 nations behind a pay wall would be a complete disaster I think. For a lot of people it's the only consist exposure they can get of the sport and the TV deals Rugby has over here are already a mess.

 

[McTallshort]

WRU thick as chump so no surprise.

Sky or BT could still get it - but go on to show it on a free channel. Kinda surprised they don't do that - kinda like a demo channel advertising just how good it could be if you bought their paid packages.

Pretty sure England 6 nations home games went to sky sports once (when England were actually good) it wasn't a popular move and didn't last long plus I don't think there is the revenue in rugby that will attract TNT etc

 

[dirty harry]

Ok so this is a more complicated topic than most think. It's not as cut and dry as free to air = more exposure for a number of reasons...

1. Theres no such thing as free to air. The license fee is required to watch any live TV. That's more expensive than a subscription.

There are a number of issues with this

- license fee payers are reducing, around 400k a year. Last year 23 million people purchased it, that's already 1/3 in the UK.

- the biggest demographic that refuse to purchase the fee is 16-24. I think the stat is 60% dont have a license. If we are looking to build the sport for the future, the younger fans arent watching live TV.

- the license fee is being restructured in 2027. I still think noone knows what this looks like, it may well be a subscription service, or direct government funded. Both of those drop rugby either way.

2. The world is changing, subscription services are about to overtake TV as a media. Around 58 million people watch live TV, 45 million have subscriptions to TV services, and it's aboutto flip on its head. So it wont be about reaching the biggest audience in the UK, itll be about reaching the biggest globally, And the right audience.

3. People are right, WRU as always want to kill rugby in Wales, there are some politicians who want to keep it protected and therefore insular. Ultimately both are wrong, but money will always talk!