All England Rugby Test Matches Will Air From 2026 Under a New Broadcast Deal

The rights to England’s future international rugby fixtures have been awarded to ITV, effective from 2026, after the broadcaster successfully submitted an £80 million bid for the new Nations Championship. This landmark agreement guarantees that all of England's matches, which will form part of a new 12-team biennial competition, will be shown on terrestrial television, providing a significant boost to the sport’s visibility by making the games accessible to a mass audience. The deal ensures that the national team will leave the pay-TV exclusivity that characterized recent Autumn Tests, marking a return to free-to-air coverage for all major fixtures alongside their existing rights for the Six Nations and the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

ITV’s Strategic Move Secures Full International Portfolio

ITV's winning bid, valued at approximately £80 million for the initial cycle, has solidified the broadcaster's dominance in covering England’s international rugby union fixtures. This new contract complements ITV’s existing joint rights deal with the BBC for the annual Six Nations Championship, effectively bringing all of England’s key Tests—both home and away—under a single, easily accessible broadcast umbrella starting from 2026. The duration of the agreement is particularly significant, as it covers the first two editions of the Nations Championship, which is scheduled to take place every other year. Furthermore, the deal reinforces the existing arrangement for the quadrennial Rugby World Cup, keeping the 2027 tournament in Australia on the free-to-air schedule, a position ITV has proudly held since 1991. This consolidation provides the RFU with long-term financial stability following recent years of fluctuating revenues and the economic pressures of the pandemic.

Free-to-Air: The Critical Shift in Audience Reach

The most impactful aspect of the new deal is the definitive return of all Test matches to FTA television. For the past three years, the Autumn Test series had been broadcast exclusively on TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport), a pay-TV platform. The viewing figures starkly illustrate the rationale behind the shift: Peak audiences for England’s Six Nations matches on ITV have often reached or exceeded 6 million viewers. In contrast, the pay-TV coverage for comparable Autumn fixtures struggled to consistently breach the 1 million viewer mark. This substantial difference in reach was a core consideration for organizers seeking to maximize the sport’s visibility and appeal to a new generation of fans. By choosing ITV, the rights holders have prioritized broad public engagement and the positive externalities that mass exposure brings to sponsorship valuation and grassroots interest.

TNT Sports' Strategic Decline to Bid

The outcome is also notable for the absence of the incumbent broadcaster, TNT Sports, which confirmed it declined the opportunity to bid for the Nations Championship rights despite holding the Autumn Test contract previously. Sources close to the negotiation indicated that TNT's decision was influenced by a combination of the asking price and the biennial format of the new tournament. The biennial schedule of the Nations Championship, while structurally significant for the global game, offered fewer guaranteed annual broadcast slots compared to the traditional yearly Autumn schedule. This, coupled with TNT Sports’ recent loss of several other major European football rights (including the Champions League), suggested a strategic retrenchment towards their core offerings, such as their exclusive rights for the domestic Gallagher Premiership. Their decision opened the door for ITV to sweep the rights and unify the international rugby portfolio on FTA television.

The Structure of the Nations Championship

The Nations Championship is poised to revolutionize the international calendar. The 12-team competition integrates the Six Nations (England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales) with their Southern Hemisphere counterparts (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, along with Fiji and Japan). The format will involve a complex schedule beginning with a three-Test Southern Hemisphere tour in the July window. England's itinerary is set to commence with challenging fixtures, potentially including world champions South Africa. This is followed by a condensed November home series, featuring three fixtures at Twickenham, against rivals such as Australia and New Zealand, culminating in a highly anticipated final series to crown the ultimate champion. This new structure promises high-stakes rugby throughout both the July and November windows.