Sky Secures Sevens Broadcast Rights

The World Rugby Sevens Series will be aired on Sky, it’s been announced.

World Rugby has confirmed the renewal of its partnership with Sky New Zealand to broadcast the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series for a further four years to 2023.

In a boost for sevens fans, for the first time ever, the deal includes coverage of every game from every men’s and women’s tournament.

The extended deal includes more than 230 hours of coverage per series and highlights shows for each tournament. World Rugby chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said they were entering a huge season for rugby sevens, not only with the women’s competition increasing to eight rounds for the first time in history, but with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on the horizon.

“New Zealand had a strong 2019 season with both men’s and women’s teams qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and with the women winning the overall series title, giving fans much to celebrate.

“We are incredibly excited that New Zealand will host its first women’s series event this year alongside the men’s competition in Hamilton which is hugely important as we continue to grow our fan base in this market as we build towards Rugby World Cup 2021.”

Sky chief executive Martin Stewart said the World Rugby Sevens Series was one of sport’s most exciting properties. “We are delighted to continue our partnership with the team at World Rugby in order to deliver this top tier sport to New Zealanders. We’ll be side by side with our sevens teams all the way, including to the Tokyo Olympics.

“We are particularly thrilled to be able to broadcast the women’s tournaments this time around and we’re looking forward to watching the New Zealand women’s side takes on Japan, Russia and England when the opening tournament kicks off this weekend.

The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2020 starts tomorrow in Glendale, Colorado with the opening tournament of the women’s series.

The men’s competition begins in Dubai on 5-7 December.