TF1, which has broadcast the all but one Rugby World Cup tournaments since 1991, has announced the renewal of its partnership with World Rugby.
The French terrestrial broadcaster has reached agreement to acquire all the rights to the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which will take place in France from 8 September to 28 October, as well as those of the 2021 Rugby World Cup, which will be played in New Zealand from 8 October to 12 November 2022.
Held in France, the men’s Rugby World Cup will be the major sporting event of 2023.
Gilles Pélisson, Chairman and CEO of the TF1 Group, said: “We are delighted to offer French viewers free-to-air coverage of these great events. This partnership is the fruit of our commitment to rugby, whose values we are proud to promote to a very wide audience, with a very promising French team.”
The competition will kick off at the Stade de France for a match between the French national team and the All Blacks. After that, 10 host cities and 9 stadiums will host the competition over a period of seven weeks.
Alan Gilpin, Chief Executive of World Rugby said: “We are delighted to extend our long-standing partnership with the TF1 Group. The Rugby World Cups in 2022 and 2023 offer us a golden opportunity to reach and inspire new fans across France and we know that TF1, with its passion and expertise in broadcasting live international sporting events, will perfectly capture the action, tension, emotion and story behind the matches.”
This agreement also includes the Women’s Rugby World Cup that will screen across TF1’s channels and follows the success of the Women’s Football World Cup in 2019.