Sunset+Vine bolsters rugby portfolio with Pro14 agreement

Pay-television broadcaster Premier Sports has appointed UK production company Sunset+Vine as its partner in delivering its new contract for the Pro14 cross-border rugby union league.

In May, the Pro14 concluded rights deals in the UK and Northern Ireland with Premier Sports and free-to-air digital television channel FreeSports, with the former to launch a new channel to showcase its coverage.

The initial three-season deals will run from 2018-19 to 2020-21 with all 152 games to be broadcast in high definition on Premier Sports HD, with no fewer than 21 games, or one per round, shown live on FreeSports.

Sunset+Vine has today (Wednesday) sealed a multi-million pound contract, running across the same three-season window, to produce over 200 hours of live coverage for Premier Sports each season including the annual showpiece Pro14 final.

Cerith Williams, executive producer for Wales at Sunset+Vine, said: “We are proud of our track record in rugby that spans seven years of the Premiership, first with ESPN and subsequently for the past four years with BT Sport.

“Add to this our experience with the Champions and Challenge Cups in the UK, Lions Tours, Rugby World Cups and production of the Six Nations in Italy, and we believe we are well placed to deliver the Guinness Pro14 with the quality of coverage that this world-class competition deserves.”