If Senedd requests, Wales rugby matches might be broadcast on free television

Welsh rugby could potentially be added to the roster of sports events mandated for live broadcast on free-to-air television if the Senedd requests it, as mentioned by UK Minister Sir John Whittingdale during his appearance in the Welsh Parliament.

These remarks arise from worries about an increasing number of rugby matches moving to pay-per-view platforms. Since 2020, Autumn internationals have been available on Amazon Prime, leading Plaid Cymru’s Llyr Gruffydd to express concerns that the same fate could befall the Rugby World Cup. Sir John, a Tory MP, testified before the Senedd’s culture committee on Thursday.

As part of the “crown jewels” list of sporting events, which includes the Rugby World Cup final, FIFA World Cup, the Olympic Games, and Wimbledon finals, these events are mandated to be broadcast on terrestrial television channels such as the BBC, ITV, or Channel Four.

During the committee session, Mr. Gruffydd inquired whether the UK Minister of Media had assessed the “relative importance of rugby to us here in Wales, and how that could be better reflected in broadcasting rights”.

“We’ve seen the autumn internationals last year go behind a paywall [Amazon Prime], there’s even been the mention of potentially the next Rugby World Cup going the same way,” the Plaid Senedd member said.

“You look at the viewing figures in Wales, rugby is right up there.”

The former culture secretary expressed that striking the right balance was challenging, as sports organisations were eager to optimize their revenue, and he was hesitant to dictate to them who they can or cannot sell their broadcasting rights to.

Sir John said: “I would say that while broadcasting is reserved [a UK government responsibility] sport is not.

“We’ve always said that if the Welsh Parliament argued very strongly that for the good of sport in Wales that we needed to look again at the listed events, we would look at it.”

“So it’s not closed.”