Rugby union fans in Wales will enjoy free-to-air Guinness Pro12 matches from the start of the 2014/15 season after BBC Wales and S4C announced a new four-year rights deal to screen live games.
Both broadcasters will share fixtures across the season, ensuring that fans the length and breadth of Wales can access live action from the regions on terrestrial television.
BBC Wales will continue to show Friday night matches under the floodlights via Scrum V Live strand, with highlights of all the weekend’s matches featuring the Welsh regions and beyond airing in Scrum V on Sundays.
Welsh-language channel S4C will now revert to covering Sunday afternoon fixtures via its Clwb Rygbi strand, having previously screened Saturday evening games.
BBC Wales and S4C will each broadcast one game per round throughout the regular season, from round 1 in September to round 22 in May.
If Welsh teams qualify for the semi-finals and final, the rights to those matches will be shared between the broadcasters.
The renewed free-to-air deal complements the Pro12’s new deal with Sky Sports, which kicks in from the start of the 2014/15 season and also runs for four years, marking the first time that the pay-TV broadcaster has covered the league.
Sky Sports will show 30 live matches throughout each season, mainly on Saturday evenings, plus the semi-finals and the final, with the latter in conjunction with the territorial broadcaster where those games take place.
The deal will mean Pro12 games being broadcast all across the UK for the first time and ensures that 125 of the 135 games in the 2014/15 season will be shown live on television.
Alongside the Welsh TV deals, similar arrangements for live free-to-air Pro12 games on BBC Alba in Scotland and BBC Northern Ireland are expected to confirmed shortly.
Comprising of teams from Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Italy, the Pro12 is set to become even fiercer this year with end-of-season results deciding sought-after places in the Rugby Champions Cup, with Welsh sides Cardiff Blues, Newport Gwent Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets all gunning for a place in Europe’s new elite competition.
Commenting on retaining live free-to-air Pro12 coverage in Wales, John Feehan, chief executive of Pro12 Rugby, said: “We are delighted to strengthen our relationship with BBC Wales and S4C.
“And with Guinness, our new sponsor, on board, we look forward to growing our competition with all our broadcasters and clubs attracting larger audiences and more fans.”
BBC Wales director Rhodri Talfan Davies said: “The new qualification rules for Europe will provide real added spice from next season, making the Pro12 competition ‘must-see TV’ for Welsh rugby fans.
“We’ve struck a terrific deal with Celtic Rugby that ensures every fan in Wales has the very best view of the action.”
“I’m very proud that S4C has once again ensured that Welsh regional rugby is available to view on free-to-air TV.
S4C chief executive Ian Jones added: “Live Guinness Pro12 action will be one of the cornerstones of Clwb – S4C’s new Sunday afternoon sports service.
“By working together, S4C and BBC Cymru Wales have succeeded in ensuring that regional rugby remains available to everyone in Wales.”
The 2014/15 Guinness Pro12 season kicks off on the weekend of September 5-7. Live games on Sky, BBC Wales and S4C will be announced in due course.
.
.
