New Zealand prime minister John Key has announced a deal that will allow the Pacific Islands to receive free-to-air coverage of rugby union matches.
The deal to provide up to eight hours of entertainment and sports coverage per day will cover the Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu from early next year.
The Pacific Islands will be able to access coverage of the Super 15 tournament featuring franchises from South Africa, New Zealand and Australia (Sanzar), as well as Australia’s Rugby Championship and ITM Cup matches.
New Zealand taxpayers will subsidise the agreement, the Stuff news website said.
“Given the Pacific's love of sport we are particularly pleased that a number of sports rights holders, including Sanzar, have given their support to the project,” Key said.
“The decision for rugby to be included in that comes because of the generosity of Sanzar… the explanation seems to be that a lot of rugby players come out of the Pacific and they're very keen as the rights holders there to promote their support. In essence by showing more rugby, I'm guessing they hope there will be more Pacific Island players who take up rugby.”
Key added that New Zealand will also provide broadcasters with technical assistance and training to create more local content.