Rugby/Six Nations: BBC and ITV renew their TV rights in the UK (press)

The British public broadcaster BBC and the private British operator ITV will renew their UK TV rights to the Six Nations Guinness from 2022, according to the British daily newspaper The Telegraph on 19/05/2021.

The BBC and ITV have been co-broadcasting the competition since 2016 and a deal worth £90m a year (€104m) on 09/07/2015. The new deal, seen as an increase compared to the previous agreement according to The Telegraph, is not expected to reach £150m a year (€172m), the target announced before the arrival of Luxembourg investment fund CVC Capital Partners in the capital of Six Nations Rugby (14.3%) on 11/03/2021.

The arrival of CVC had raised fears that the Six Nations would be moved to a pay-TV channel in the UK in a bid to monetise the rights, especially as in March 2020 the UK government refused to include the tournament on the list of sporting events that must remain accessible free-to-air (see below).

United Kingdom: list of sporting events considered to be of major importance