FIR & RAI agree Italian TV deal for matches in the Guinness PRO12 and domestic competition

FIR & RAI agree Italian TV deal for matches in the Guinness PRO12 and domestic competition

FIR and Rai Sport today announced that they have reached an agreement to broadcast, live and HD on Rai Sport 1, both the Guinness PRO12 and the Italian domestic competition (Eccellenza).

The deal will last for the current season, with an option for the next one.

The Guinness PRO12 matches will be on Rai Sport 1 HD on Saturday afternoon, one match being broadcast live at 5.30pm and a second one recorded during the week-end; earlier in the current season, some changes could be necessary to avoid clashes with Italy’s Rugby World Cup 2015 matches.

Each week, a match from the Eccellenza Championship will also be broadcasted live on Rai Sport 1 HD on Friday night, 7.30pm.

“To both confirm the Eccellenza championship on Rai Sport 1 7.30pm on Friday night and bring back the Guinness PRO12 to our main national broadcaster represents a fantastic chance to promote Italian rugby” Alfredo Gavazzi, FIR President, said.

“Guinness PRO12 and Eccellenza are our main Club rugby competitions and they’re strictly connected one to each other. To have both of them live and free-to-air witnesses the main broadcasters’ interest in Italian rugby and, at the same time, it’s a superb tool for FIR and Italian Clubs to keep on promoting the Game in our Country” Gavazzi added.

“Rai Sport successfully broadcasted the 6 Nations U20, the Eccellenza Championship and more recently the World Rugby U20 Championship – Carlo Paris, Director of Rai Sport, said – and we’re glad to extend our rugby offer and our commitment alongside Italian rugby”.

“Guinness PRO12 is one of the most spectacular and prestigious competitions on the European Club rugby stage and Rai is extremely proud to welcome on board such a great tournament”.

Guinness PRO12 Tournament Director David Jordan welcomed the announcement and said ‘It is great news for the Guinness PRO12 that our matches will be shown live on Italy’s leading sports TV channel, RAI Sport. The inclusion of RAI means we have a suite of extremely strong broadcasters with Sky Sports; BBC Wales, Northern Ireland, Alba and Scotland; S4C and TG4. We can look forward now to most of our matches being broadcast live next season’.