Southern Hemisphere Rugby Union Coverage

[TheFirstSword]

Lets hope that they do read these threads but I doubt it!

I do not believe that Sky will be showing any form of Rugby Union at all apart from the possible Lions tour to South Africa. That is it. Nothing else.

Stan TV and Rugby Pass for Super rugby. Nothing for Currie cup at all.

Premier Sports in the UK for Pro14 and Rainbow cup. It appears that Premier sports is already in the sky sports package so no need to add that £10.99 on top of your subscription. Oddly, I cannot confirm this yet as SkyGo does not show those channels but weirdly you can record them to watch later on your Q box. Bit of shambles on SKY's part. 

[ukflyboy]

I tried but failed to find the answer to the Rugby Championship question, but came to the conclusion that it was very unlikely to be shown - the rights contracts are controlled by SANZAR who also control the Super Rugby and I believe that they have sold the rights to a company that isnt a subsidiary to Sky UK.

Either way, another good reason not to sign up to a new 18 month contract; they can put up the price and get rid of the content that you actually signed up to watch, but you can't do anything about it. 

[TheFirstSword]

I suppose at the end of the day it’s a commercial decision.... not enough viewers for Rugby Union on Sky so they wont attract enough viewers to make enough money.

[A.R.C · Accepted solution]

Hi there everyone. 

I have been in touch with Viewer Relations and they seem to say how good Sky Rugby coverage is by refering to last years coverage. NOT 2021.

In my research I found the following statement regarding Southern Hemisphere Rugby Broadcast Rights and Stan Sport.

“Launching in 2021, Stan Sport will show Wallabies Tests and the Rugby Championship, Super Rugby, Sydney-based competition the Shute Shield and Queensland comp the Hospital Cup, the Mitre 10 and Currie Cup, plus SANZAAR Union home games, all broadcast live and ad-free.”

As Sky appear to have LOST all Broadcast Rights formally held by Fox it would appear that all competitions in the Southern Hemisphere, all Home Internationals for Southern Hemisphere teams are now held by Stan Sport which means that SKY has nothing to broadcast! They have already lost most European Rugby matches. Sky Sports You Tube Channel is no good as the future games are not available to Sky.

 Make your own minds up on that in the absence of any confirmed coverage from Sky.

[oj01]

• Premier Sports in the UK for Pro14 and Rainbow cup. It appears that Premier sports is already in the sky sports package so no need to add that £10.99 on top of your subscription.

I believe Premier Sports is part of the Sports package in Ireland, but it isn't included in the UK. 

[GraeRus]

Oh well saves me the trouble of getting Sky sports then. Saved myself a few quid. You have to ask us Sky Sports worth it anymore ? 

[Postie1]

Thanks for the update.

Hopefully Stan Sport will become readily available. At the moment believe you must subscribe to Stan tv, then pay an additional fee for the sport. Somewhere in the region of 30 AUS dollars I'm guessing.

Otherwise I'm guessing you'd need a VPN and buy the subscription with Stan tv for the sport

Anyone have any thoughts?

[graceland22]

I would only be interested in Stan if you could record / download / watch on catch-up from it rather than streaming.

[graceland22]

I have had a response from Stan and they say it is only for Australia. I suppose you could try a VPN but you would have to subscribe to both units first to see if it works.

I cannot see a work-around at the moment - I dont think 'rugby pass' works.

Super Rugby - Sanzar  I have sent an email from the contact section of this Super Rugby site to highlight the plight in the UK. It would be good if lots of us sent a message. Even a weekly highlights package would be better than nothing.

IRONICALLY:

I have just got an email from SKY saying my subscription is going up by £6 including £2 for SKY Sports pack! The cheek of it - less content for more money. We are paying the price for them over-paying for soccer..

[oj01]

• I have just got an email from SKY saying my subscription is going up by £6 including £2 for SKY Sports pack

Sports Pack is only increasing for those who are out of contract 

[A.R.C]

@graceland22 Hi there,

I have emailed Sanzar as well. You can get Aotearoa via Rugby Pass but other than that I have not looked too hard. 

I am worried by the Lions Tour Coverage. Sky have said they expect to cover it but have carefully covered themselves by saying TBC. I am far from sure because the Tour should be a Home Series for South Africa even if played in Japan. If that is the case then it looks as if Sky won't have the rights. I think it depends if the Japanese organisers handle the TV rights differently.

[Postie1]

There are a few options.

Rugbypass get you access to super rugby Aotearoa at £34.99 for 21 games.

Stan Tv sport seem to have acquired the rights to the above, plus super rugby Australia, all rugby championship games (formerly Tri Nations), Australian domestic Internationals, Currie cup (SA), ITM CUP (NZ), Shute shield (AUS), Top league (Japan) plus Lions.

The issue is it's a streaming service for Australia only. I'm sure there a tech wizards who'll work out how to get this. I've looked into it and on registration you need to provide an Australian post code.

Sky seem to have totally lost interest in broadcasting rugby without ever providing any information to the viewing market that have been watching this for 20+ years

[ukflyboy]

I can confirm Stan TV works fine in the UK - I signed up using a VPN through an Australian server and paid through paypal. It does ask for a post code but I just used my mothers in NZ (which I haven't lived at for almost 20 years and had to google!) and I'm able to stream the latest Super game. Price seems ok at £16 a month. 

[Postie1]

Thanks for  info @ukflyboy.

I tried what you mentioned and happy days all registered using a distant relatives Australian post code to navigate the registration process with stantv. Including the VPN subscription the price I'm looking at £19 a month, which is a bargain for all the rugby content. Now just to cancel sky sports to counter act this additional cost. 

[ukflyboy]

I should have mentioned, it's a 30 day free trial, so no money has exchanged yet!