BT Sport strikes deal to broadcast European competitions

BT Sport has secured the rights for broadcasting European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup tournaments live in UK and Ireland from the 2018/19 season.

With 134 matches spanned over nine weekends, at least 22 clubs from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland will be seen competing in both the tournaments.

BT Sport has already been broadcasting live Aviva Premiership games since 2013 and the numbers have racked to 69 per season currently and at least 37 European matches across both the competitions since 2014.

The BT Sport Rugby Tonight show will continue to provide a recap on various Aviva Premiership and European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup matches.

BT’s managing director of content and strategy Andy Haworth is pleased with the new development.

“BT Sport is now the home of elite European rugby, as well as the home of Aviva Premiership Rugby.

"We’re proud to have won all of the live rights for this fantastic competition. We’re extremely passionate about our rugby coverage and will continue to work hard to grow the profile of the sport.”

CEO of EPCR Vincent Gaillard added: "We are delighted to move to a single pay-TV platform for European club rugby with a premium broadcaster in BT Sport, who share our commitment to the promotion of our competitions.

"We look forward to further developing that relationship to continually create outstanding rugby experiences for fans across the United Kingdom and Ireland.”