Six Nations and SANZAAR to jointly sell rugby rights — The Guardian

The Six Nations and SANZAAR rugby unions have agreed to jointly sell all media and commercial rights for the first time under a new revenue-sharing model. As The Guardian reports, the agreement will cover international rugby competitions outside the World Cup.

Joint revenue sharing

Under the new scheme, Southern Hemisphere countries will receive a share of profits from the Six Nations Championship and British & Irish Lions tours. At the same time, European countries will receive a share of broadcasting revenue and sponsorship contracts from the Rugby Championship and the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series between New Zealand and South Africa.

A new rights-management agency will handle the sale of the rights. It will be created by a 10-member board formed to run the Nations Championship, which resumes this weekend. The commercial and media rights for this tournament are already being sold collectively, with revenue distributed among the 10 founders: the six Six Nations participants, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Argentina. Fiji and Japan receive significantly smaller payments for participating.

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Changes will begin in 2028

The new rules are expected to affect sponsorship and commercial agreements from 2028, the year of the second Nations Championship. They will affect the sale of television rights from 2030, as the current Six Nations and SANZAAR rights are secured until 2029.

In the next rights sales cycle, broadcasters will be offered packages that may include the Six Nations Championship, the Rugby Championship and the Nations Championship. At the same time, separate specially tailored packages will also be available to increase competition among buyers.