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Daniel Tobin/Stuff
Sky bought Dublin-based RugbyPass, which provides and news and information to rugby fans around the world, in 2019.
Sky Television has finalised a rugby rights deal with World Rugby that will also see it sell its loss-making RugbyPass rugby news site to World Rugby.
World Rugby will acquire RugbyPass and Sky will have exclusive rights to premium competitions, including Rugby World Cups, for seven years.
The deal will include every men’s and every women’s Rugby World Cup, the new WXV (international women’s 15s competition) and the HSBC World Rugby Sevens series.
Sky had announced on July 18 that it was in “advanced negotiations” with World Rugby over the rights deal and there was speculation days later that the sale of RugbyPass would be part of the package.
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Sky TV shares were trading little changed on confirmation of the arrangements, opening down 2 cents at $2.20 on the NZX.
RugbyPass offers news, opinion and statistics about the game, including a system that ranks players and teams, with some of its content behind a paywall for which it charges subscribers US$1.99 (NZ$3.50) a month.
Sky bought Dublin-based RugbyPass in 2019 in a deal it said at the time would cost US$40 million.
However, about a third of the purchase price comprised payments that were contingent on the business’ future performance, of which only $1.7m has so far been paid out.
JASON DORDAY/ STUFF
Half the population is female, and women’s sport provides “awesome content that people want to watch”, says Sky TV chief executive Sophie Moloney.
Sky chief executive Sophie Moloney said the agreement secured exclusive access to all of World Rugby’s premium competitions for many years.
“We are thrilled to be able to offer them to all New Zealanders on the Sky Box, our streaming services and free-to-air.
“The partnership includes an agreement to co-produce exciting new programming with an emphasis on the women’s game, a strategic priority for both Sky and World Rugby. We look forward to working together to tell stories that motivate, inspire and challenge,” she said.
“In the last two years RugbyPass has focused on building its audience and network business, and it is an exciting transition for the RugbyPass team to step into the World Rugby family, and to work with World Rugby to deliver on its strategic mission to grow the sport globally.”
World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin said the agreement reflected World Rugby’s mission to make the sport more accessible.
“Not only does the deal provide New Zealanders with certainty of a world-class destination for all World Rugby premium competitions through to 2029, including four Rugby World Cups, in acquiring RugbyPass, it enables World Rugby to grow the audience for all our stakeholders.”
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