Daily Mail: TNT Sports confirm two-year broadcast deal for Autumn Nations Series

Story from Daily Mail:

TNT Sports has confirmed its exclusive deal to broadcast rugby's Autumn Nations Series, as initially reported last month by Mail Sport.

The last three series were broadcast live by Amazon Prime, but the streaming platform chose not to be involved in the bidding this time around.

The two-year deal to show the 21 matches will be the last standalone deal for the autumn internationals before a mega auction for TV rights for the new Nations Championship and the Six Nations from 2026.

TNT tweeted: 'Our rugby coverage has just gotten bigger. 5-'The 2024 Autumn Nations Series is coming exclusively to TNT Sports and Discovery+ with every single fixture shown for fans in the UK and Ireland.'

This year's series starts with England facing New Zealand at Twickenham on the first weekend of November.

It is one of several mouthwatering fixtures in 2024, with England also welcoming Australia and South Africa, while the All Blacks will square up against Ireland and France.

TNT Sports also confirmed that the live Autumn Series action will include prime time games to close out three of the Saturdays.

Tom Harrison, CEO of Six Nations Rugby, said: 'This year's Autumn Nations Series stands to be an unbelievable experience on and off the pitch, by bringing together fans from all over the world, to enjoy the best that international rugby has to offer.

'It is a significant moment to welcome TNT Sports into our broadcast family of international rugby for the first time given our commitment to deliver the best possible experience for fans.'

World Rugby has approved plans to set up a new 12-team global league in 2026, with matches to be played in the existing July and Autumn international windows.

The Six Nations unions plan to sell their TV rights for the new Nations Championship in the same process as the Six Nations auction, but different packages could lead to the two competitions being broadcast on different channels.

BBC Sport and ITV currently share live Six Nations rights, and are set to make strong bids when the new tender is issued next year.

TF1 will cover France's autumn fixtures in their home country, with beIN SPORT showing other games there, whilst Sky Italia will continue to show Italy's rugby coverage.

TNT are also in talks to extend their contract with Premiership Rugby for another three years, as they look to confirm their place at the top of the sport's coverage in the UK.

Their rugby portfolio already includes Premiership Rugby, as well as European club rugby, Premiership Women’s Rugby and the HSBC SVNS Series.