EBU acquires rights to Rugby Sevens for Eurovision Sport

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Rugby Europe have struck an agreement to provide coverage of the Rugby Sevens in selected European territories.

EBU Members will broadcast both the Rugby Europe Men’s and Women’s Championship Series in 2023 and 2024.

The initial agreement grants Eurovision Sport exclusive live rights for EBU Members in the territories of Czechia (CT), Lithuania (LRT), Poland (TVP) and Spain (RTVE), with an option to include more members from additional territories.

Per the deal, members will base their coverage on their national teams and will broadcast content across both their linear and non-linear platforms.

Coverage will include the Algarve Sevens Tournament and Hamburg Sevens Tournament in both 2023 and 2024, as well as, news clips distribution of the events via Eurovision Sports News.

Eurovision Sport will also feature an Olympic Qualifier event for next year’s Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in collaboration with the Krakow 2023 European Games in which Rugby Sevens will be making its first-ever appearance.

Head of summer sports at Eurovision Sport Andreas Aristodemou said: “We are thrilled to enrich our expanding portfolio with the Rugby Europe Sevens events. These national team events are perfectly aligned with our Members’ DNA of supporting Olympic sports at the highest possible level and we are proud to support Rugby Sevens for the next two years”.

“We are delighted to partner with EBU for the promotion of our Sevens European Championship Series. Thanks to their expertise in top-level sports events and their impressive broadcaster network and membership, this will be a huge opportunity to promote Rugby Sevens and to expose the European talents and national teams to sports fans, especially ahead the 2024 Olympic Games,” added Florent Marty, CEO of Rugby Europe.

Last year, the EBU finalised a partnership with the European Olympic Committees to offer its expertise in media rights distribution for the European Games of 2023 and 2027.