Since the 2023 World Cup and this fall, TF1 has sought to establish itself in the market for broadcasting French XV matches. Today, it is France TV which owns the rights to the Six Nations Tournament. But their broadcast agreement expires in 2025at the conclusion of the upcoming meetings over the next month.
The Rugby World Cup brought in big revenue for TF1, which saw its figures explode!
Thus, the leading channel in France would like to take the opportunity to bring the Six Nations Tournament back on its airwaves. For good reason, she was largely convinced by the excellent results of the 2024 Autumn Nations Series.
The average audience for the three matches (against Japan, New Zealand and Argentina) was around 6 million viewers, although performances varied markedly from match to match. If TF1 acquires the broadcasting rights for the VI Nations Tournament, she hopes to have a minimum audience of 6 million viewers for each meetingaccording to information revealed by The Team.
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A boon for the Bouygues group channel, since it would offer a period of visibility in broad daylight, something rare. VI Nations matches generally take place on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
However, TF1 is experiencing several obstacles to broadcasting the VI Nations Tournament on its channels. First, the cost remains high. The commercial company Six Nations Rugby Limited requests no less than 30 million euros minimum each year, always according to The Team. So, the hypothesis of sharing the rights between two or more channels, such as France TV or M6, would be studied. However, no one yet knows if the sixth TNT channel would be up for it.
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Second, the number of matches involved. Indeed, TF1 would be especially interested in the matches of the XV of Francemuch less than those of other European nations. This schedule of three matches per week could disrupt the channel's program schedule. This scenario complicates things, without even mentioning the possible other associated competitions (Women's VI Nations Tournament and the U20 equivalent, currently broadcast on L'Équipe TV).
In the meantime, fans of the French XV will be able to find their favorite team on the channels of the France TV group this winter. The 2024 edition of the VI Nations Tournament begins on January 31. Antoine Dupont and his teammates will challenge Wales at the Stade de France, in prime time.
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