French TV battles over club rugby

It is not so very long ago that the idea of even women’s international games regularly appearing live on national television almost anywhere in the world seemed a long way off. The occasional Six Nations game taking place before or after men’s internationals might be shown, but little else.

Last summer’s World Cup has changed all that - especially in the host nation, France. Some of the largest sporting audiences ever recorded for the host broadcaster, France4, peaking at over 2.4 million for France v Canada (a 10.2% audience share) has changed attitudes completely resulting in what is almost a bidding war to become the television home of the sport.

Hostilities broke out last month when France4 announced that, for the first time, they would broadcast live all home French games in the Women’s Six Nations plus any away games which were being covered by host broadcasters.

Within a week or so cable channel Canal+ announced that they would make history with the first live national broadcast of a women’s club game – the Top 8 game between Lille and Perpignan on 24thJanuary, during a “weekend of women’s sport”.

Not to be outdone, within days France4 were back having secured rights to champions Montpellier's game against Blagnac St Orens, which was to be played on 18thJanuary, but was now to be moved back a week to the 25th, especially for the cameras – and that they had also won the rights to the Top 8 final in May.

Now Eurosport France has trumped them all with the announcement that this weekend’s clash between great rivals Perpignan and Montpellier will be shown live this Sunday evening.

All three channels will be looking at viewer figures with great interest, with the hope that women’s rugby might be as successful as women’s football has been, especially for Eurosport which now has a large rugby hole in its schedules following its loss of rights to the European Rugby Cups (much in the same way as Sky has lost similar rights in the UK from next season).

Whether this will spread to other countries remains doubtful. Sky TV New Zealand has broadcast the women’s NPC for some time, but elsewhere the structure of the club season in the UK and Ireland probably mitigates against anything similar as the key championships are largely decided before the end of the year.

Sky in the UK now have a commitment to show at least two England internationals each year but coverage of other home nations remains between poor and invisible (hence France4’s inability to broadcast France’s away games in Wales and Ireland this year) - there have not yet been any announcements about even the streaming of Wales and Scotland home games. RTE in Ireland have shown an interest in the past, but faced problems due to contractual requirements for them to show the U20 Six Nations. Whether TG4 – who, like France4, achieved high ratings in the summer – will step in remains to be seen.

However, this does not mean that the French experience will not have an effect elsewhere. If these experiments are successful it will generate income for French clubs – and increase competition within the Top 8. French clubs already attract players from Spain, Italy and other neighbouring countries, and that attraction would only increase.

Women’s rugby (unlike football, hockey, handball etc.) is also unusual in having no continental inter-club competitions. Given French TV backing (and even demand for “events”) that could change too.