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Premiership Women's Rugby and TNT Sports announce multi-year broadcast deal
By Imogen Ainsworth
A landmark deal to broadcast top-flight women’s club rugby has been announced this week that will see over 20 Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) matches shown live on TNT Sports and RugbyPass TV (*in certain territories) across the season.
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TNT Sports and PWR have agreed on a multi-year deal to broadcast one PWR match each round throughout the season, in addition to both semi-finals and the final, which will take place on 22nd June 2024. BT Sport, who have recently rebranded TNT Sports, broadcast last season’s semi-finals and final, with a number of other matches also featuring on BBC iPlayer throughout the season.
The first match shown as part of the new deal will be Bristol Bears vs Sale Sharks on 18th November, kicking off at 12:30 at Ashton Gate. TNT Sports additionally holds the rights to Gallagher Premiership Rugby and the Investec Champions Cup and Challenge Cup. It is also understood that PWR clubs will be able to live-stream matches that are not broadcast on TNT, providing increasingly comprehensive coverage for fans of the sport.
The coverage will stretch beyond simply broadcasting the matches and will include additional video match highlights, in-depth interviews, and match reports across discovery+ and the TNT Sports App.
Chief Executive of Premiership Women’s Rugby, Belinda Moore said: “This is a pivotal moment in the history of women’s club rugby in England, as we will see at least 21 Premiership Women’s Rugby matches broadcast live on TNT Sports and discovery+ this season.
“For the first time, this ground-breaking partnership with TNT Sports will allow us to create an appointment to view each weekend for our fans and clubs, fundamentally changing the profile of the league. Research from the Women’s Sports Trust shows there are 1.5 million committed women’s rugby fans in the UK, which shows the potential of this partnership.
“We know the standard of rugby played in Premiership Women’s Rugby is exceptional and over the coming season, a huge number of people will enjoy their first taste of the League, to share our passion for the competition.
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“We are ambitious to deliver significant growth in women’s rugby in England as we head towards Women’s World Cup 2025 and this partnership with TNT Sports will help us deliver that goal.”
Scott Young, SVP Content & Production at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, added: “We are delighted to able to bring live coverage of arguably the best women’s domestic rugby competition in the world to TNT Sports viewers.
“There are many stories to be told across women’s rugby and we are delighted to partner with Premiership Women’s Rugby to tell these stories with a fresh approach that reflects the family-friendly, competitive nature of the competition.”
Rebranded as Premiership Women’s Rugby from the Premier 15s title that was established in 2017, this year’s competition will also see the addition of two new teams who will compete in the top-flight for the first time.
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Leicester Tigers Women and Trailfinders Women will join defending champions Gloucester-Hartpury, Exeter Chiefs Women, Bristol Bears Women, Harlequins Women, Loughborough Lightning Women, Sale Sharks Women, and Saracens Women to form a nine-strong league.
The competition was due to feature ten teams this season, but the unfortunate withdrawal of Warriors Women before the start of the competition sees the teams reduced to nine for this season after the departure of Wasps and DMP Sharks at the culmination of the 2022/23 season.
The 2023/24 season kicks off on Saturday 18th November with Bristol vs Sale Sharks, followed by three-time champions Saracens hosting Loughborough Lightning at the StoneX. Trailfinders will make their PWR debut at home against local London rivals Harlequins at Trailfinders Sports Club on the same afternoon.
Leicester Tigers will play their first league match the day after when they host last season’s league runners-up and Cup champions Exeter Chiefs Women at Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium on Sunday 19th November. Gloucester-Hartpury will get their title defence campaign underway the week after when host newcomers Leicester Tigers in a Slater Cup doubleheader with their respective men’s teams at Kingsholm Stadium on the 25th of November.
Domestic and international stars will continue to provide electrifying action in the PWR this season, with many of the best players in the world returning from the recent WXV competitions to ignite the club scene once more in what promises to be another thrilling season.
One match a round (21 matches) will also be available to be viewed on RugbyPass TV worldwide [excluding UK, Ireland, US and Canada].
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The writer here ignores the fact that, following on from not taking the penalty kick, the All Blacks did manage to score a try a few minutes later. Not directly from the penalty awarded, but it is speculation to say that had they opted to take the koi they would have won. Even if they kicked it, which was no guarantee, they would still be trailing and would have had to start again at half-way.
Go to commentsI would be surprised if Sales Opoku Fordjour and Northampton’s Tommy Freeman are not in the team, Anthony Watson is also one that could go on the wing. One thing I must say is that the front 3 will get destroyed against a team like South Africa.
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