UK pay-television broadcasters BT Sport and BSkyB have reached a deal over coverage of the new European club rugby union competitions that are set to replace the Heineken and Amlin Challenge Cups from next season, according to the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
The report said that a "pick deal" had been agreed, under which BT Sport would be granted first choice of three matches involving clubs in the English Premiership for each of the six rounds of pool matches in the new elite tournament. Sky would then have first pick for three matches not involving English teams, with the contests likely to feature teams from the French Top 14, Irish provinces or Welsh regions.
The remaining games would be divided between the two broadcasters by using a “complex formula” that takes into account how many games each weekend involve English sides. This would result in 10 games for each pool shared between BT Sport and Sky Sports.
It is understood that coverage of the knockout stages would be shared equally between the two broadcasters, with both BT Sport and Sky broadcasting the final of the elite tournament.
The newspaper added that a formal announcement over the formation of a 20-team European Rugby Champions Cup to replace the 24-team Heineken Cup could now be delayed until next week. This is due to the Italian Rugby Federation lodging a late demand to review the tournament structure.
The dispute over the future direction of European rugby has rumbled on for a number of years. In September 2012, BT Sport agreed a deal to show games featuring English Premiership top division clubs in a “dazzling new European tournament” for three years, from 2014-15 to 2016-17. However, the agreement was not approved by European Rugby Cup, the operator of the existing Heineken Cup, which immediately announced an extension of its rights deal with Sky for the same three-year period.