The Champions Cup is the pinnacle of club rugby in Europe. The successor to the Heineken Cup, the Champions Cup has been the stage for some of the best rugby on these shores over the past 20+ years.
Sky Sports used to be the main broadcasters but for nearly a decade BT Sports, now TNT sports has been the main broadcast partner with some games being shown on ITV and RTÉ in recent years but that could all be set to change this coming season.
Brendan Fanning of Rugby Pass has reported that the Champions Cup is set to have its TV rights bought by Premier Sports from the 2024-25 season onwards.
The channel already has a strong rugby showing as it broadcasts the URC as well as showing the Top 14 in the UK and Ireland.
TNT Sports are set to let go of their Champions Cup rights as they look to enter into the International Test Rugby scene. They are showing 21 Autumn International matches this November, showcasing 13 teams.
This swing at International rugby comes just as World Rugby's new Nations league competition is set to start in 2026. TNT are reportedly looking to become the broadcaster of the competition so this November's test matches will be a tester to see how they get on the in the International sphere. This tester has therefore meant that there isn't space in TNT's budget to renew their rights for the Champions Cup.
The EPCR are set to announce the new TV rights deal next month with DAZN being the only other challengers to Premier Sports but as Fanning reported "it would be a seismic shift to take Premier out of the picture at this point."
Premier Sports have been a good broadcaster for the URC but there will probably need to be improvements to their production to make sure this doesn't feel like a drop in quality for the Champions Cup.
Another challenge that will face the EPCR is that Premier Sports isn't as readily available as TNT and it doesn't get near the viewership. In the UK TNT across their 4 channels get nearly 9 million viewers per month while Premier gets less than a million across their 2 channels on average.
It's a smaller platform for the EPCR but it's an ambitious punt from Premier Sports and it could be the catalyst to grow the channel.
