Premiership Rugby extends free-to-air deal with ITV

Premiership Rugby and ITV have agreed a two-year extension to the rights deal which sees seven Gallagher Premiership Rugby matches, including the Final, broadcast free-to-air.

The new deal also sees a rebranded highlights show – Gallagher Premiership Unleashed – air on Wednesday nights to round-up all the thrills of the 2024/25 Gallagher Premiership Rugby season.

This extension follows a record-breaking 2023/24 which saw the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final 2024 deliver the highest peak audience ever for a Premiership Rugby match on ITV.

Across ITV and TNT Sports, the Final also drew an average audience of 1.2m and a share of 14.3%, approximately 1 in 7 of all UK viewers. Whilst the ITV average audience share for Gallagher Premiership fixtures was also up 3% when compared to the 2022/23 campaign.

The first match of the 2024/25 season on ITV sees runners-up Bath Rugby host fierce rivals Bristol Bears in a blockbuster West Country derby at The Rec (Sat, Oct 5).

A fortnight later, ITV will showcase another heavyweight match-up, this time at Mattioli Woods Welford Road between historic rivals Leicester Tigers and Gloucester Rugby (Sat, Oct 19).

The other confirmed clash sees Leicester Tigers head to Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, for Harlequins’ iconic ‘Big Game’ (Sat, Dec 28), which headlines the bumper festive fixtures period in the 2024/25 season.

The remaining three fixtures will be announced in due course, before the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final 2025 brings the season to a close on Saturday, June 14 live on ITV1 and ITVX.

Simon Massie-Taylor, Chief Executive Officer at Premiership Rugby, said: “Premiership Rugby is thrilled to extend our relationship with ITV and to continue to provide free-to-air access to Gallagher Premiership Rugby with seven blockbuster fixtures on top of the revamped weekly highlights show.

“The 2023/24 season saw ITV viewership records smashed for The Showdown 5 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium between London rivals Saracens and Harlequins - and again for the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final 2024 - adding to an impressive year-on-year increase in overall audience share.”

Niall Sloane, Director of ITV Sport, said: “Viewers are eagerly anticipating the new Gallagher Premiership Rugby season on ITV1 and ITVX this Autumn. As well as last season outperforming the previous on linear, on ITVX streams for the matches and highlights were up by +14% also with 1.8m.”

All matches broadcast on ITV will be simulcast on TNT Sports.

The first three matches to be broadcast on ITV are confirmed as the below:

Saturday, October 5 – Bath Rugby v Bristol Bears (3.05pm KO)

Sunday, October 19 – Leicester Tigers v Gloucester Rugby (3pm KO)

Saturday, December 28 – Harlequins v Leicester Tigers (6pm KO)

The final three fixtures will be confirmed in due course.