Blood & Mud

How much are rugby fans in the UK going to have to pay watch rugby in 2011?

Mudster Karl Peters has been in touch in the wake of ESPN grabbing themselves some rights to show Guinness Premiership matches from 2010-11, asking us to investigate the whole subscription scenario for watching rugby next season.  Or to put it another way: to what extent are British and Irish fans expected to bend over and take it up the fundament from those bastard TV companies in the immediate future? 

The deal means that the ESPN TV channel, and its digital outlets such as scrum.com, will have rights to show 43 live Premiership matches from next season, this will include one of the two play-off semi-finals.

Sky continue to have 26 live matches (including one semi and the final), the Heineken Cup and European Shield, and all the non-World Cup and non-6 nations England games.

In terms of free-to-air, the BBC continues to cover the 6 Nations, Magners League on BBC Wales, and the Anglo-Welsh Cup, plus the Welsh language S4C has live Magners matches every Saturday.  Also, much to fans' abject horror, ITV will once again bring their particularly brand of uselessness to covering the World Cup in 2011.

So, in short, if you want to see all the rugby on telly next year you will have to pay at least £36 for a Sky Sports subscription, plus £9 for ESPN per month.  If you only want want the ESPN Premiership offering then a subscription without Sky Sports costs £12. 

Frankly, given what it will cost to watch next year, the Guiness Prem would be wise to consider how to improve its overall quality as many could argue that this season it has not really been worth the money.  And England should be paying people to watch them at present, not the other way round.

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How much are rugby fans in the UK going to have to pay watch rugby in 2011?

Mudster Karl Peters has been in touch in the wake of ESPN grabbing themselves some rights to show Guinness Premiership matches from 2010-11, asking us to investigate the whole subscription scenario for watching rugby next season.  Or to put it another way: to what extent are British and Irish fans expected to bend over and take it up the fundament from those bastard TV companies in the immediate future? 

The deal means that the ESPN TV channel, and its digital outlets such as scrum.com, will have rights to show 43 live Premiership matches from next season, this will include one of the two play-off semi-finals.

Sky continue to have 26 live matches (including one semi and the final), the Heineken Cup and European Shield, and all the non-World Cup and non-6 nations England games.

In terms of free-to-air, the BBC continues to cover the 6 Nations, Magners League on BBC Wales, and the Anglo-Welsh Cup, plus the Welsh language S4C has live Magners matches every Saturday.  Also, much to fans' abject horror, ITV will once again bring their particularly brand of uselessness to covering the World Cup in 2011.

So, in short, if you want to see all the rugby on telly next year you will have to pay at least £36 for a Sky Sports subscription, plus £9 for ESPN per month.  If you only want want the ESPN Premiership offering then a subscription without Sky Sports costs £12. 

Frankly, given what it will cost to watch next year, the Guiness Prem would be wise to consider how to improve its overall quality as many could argue that this season it has not really been worth the money.  And England should be paying people to watch them at present, not the other way round.