Rugby League Commercial (RLC), the body established to address the future of the sport in England, has gained wide international coverage for the upcoming 2024 season for its top-tier Super League after securing six international broadcast agreements.
The agreements were signed with Fox Sports and NITV (Australia), Fox Sports (the US), Rogers Media (Canada), Premier Sports Asia, and ESPN Africa.
They join RLC's domestic deal with UK pay-TV broadcaster Sky Sports and Sportmax in the Caribbean, meaning the Super League will be broadcast across five continents for the season. The deals also follow the recently announced deals covering Catalans Dragons fixtures in France and Spain with L’Equipe and TV3.
The deals come in addition to the launch of SuperLeague+, the sport’s new global OTT streaming platform covering the Super League, which will be available globally, minus Australia. The unveiling of SuperLeague+ came following the tie-up struck between RLC and the IMG sports marketing heavyweight in mid-2022, with Endeavor Streaming under the same overall Endeavor banner as IMG.
Rhodri Jones, the managing director of RLC, said: "Now, our long-term strategic partnership with IMG has delivered a range of overseas broadcast agreements. With every match now being covered, Fox Sports will be able to show many more matches to Australian Rugby League fans – and the deal with SBS and National Indigenous Television secures free-to-air coverage in Australia for the first time.
“We are also delighted that IMG has concluded deals with Fox Sports in the US, Rogers Media in Canada, Premier Sports Asia, and ESPN Africa, while in all those cases, SuperLeague+ will remain available for fans who want to watch live coverage of every match, and is also a great new option for league fans in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and throughout the Pacific who want to follow the international stars in our competition.”
Last week RLC also agreed to a three-year deal with UK public broadcaster the BBC to cover the Super League.
The deal, which marks the first time the BBC will have shown the Super League, involves the live coverage of 15 games per season across the BBC, made up of 10 on television and the rest on the BBC iPlayer on-demand service, and the BBC Sport website.
RLC was formed in May 2022, and became fully operational in January last year, as part of the commercial realignment and redevelopment of the sport in England - a process in which IMG was integral.
The Rugby Football League and the Super League partnered with the agency heavyweight in mid-2022.
