BT pays £152m for exclusive rights to Aviva Premiership rugby
BT has followed up its acquisition of live Premier League football rights by clinching an exclusive multi-year deal to screen Aviva Premiership rugby union matches.
A £152 million contract has been agreed with Premiership Rugby that will see the telecoms giant become the sole UK broadcaster of top-tier English rugby and the JP Morgan Asset Management Sevens for four years from the 2013-14 season.
In addition, the company will have the exclusive rights to cover matches played by Premiership clubs in any future European competitions for three years from 2014-15.
Currently, ESPN and Sky share the live rights to broadcast live Aviva Premiership fixtures.
The move, which will see BT screen up to 69 Premiership games per season, comes two months after the company agreed to pay £738 million for access to 38 live Premier League football matches a season from 2013-14 to 2015-16.
Marc Watson, chief executive of BT Vision, revealed the communications firm will look to distribute the sporting content across a variety of platforms.
"BT is serious about sport and this deal means we will be offering the very best rugby action alongside some of the most thrilling football matches from the Premier League," he added.
