The British & Irish Lions and Rugby Australia have begun the process of selling and distributing their international broadcast media rights for the 2025 Tour and have appointed Pitch International (Pitch) as its exclusive international media rights distribution partner.
This move will give more fans across the world the opportunity to watch The British & Irish Lions and Australia in action with the partnership for the 2025 Tour covering the three Test matches against the Wallabies and the pre-Test matches. It will also cover international broadcast rights for all the Lions’ behind-the-scenes documentaries since 1997.
The agreement covers worldwide rights for all live games excluding the UK, Ireland and Australia, and will help the Lions to further achieve its strategic objective of increasing global coverage for the Tour. The British & Irish Lions has a global fan base of over 14 million and a global broadcast audience of almost 25 million. In total, the Lions Tour is broadcast in 135 countries.
Pitch will also be selling and distributing highlights of the 2025 Tour to free-to-air broadcasters in the UK and Ireland as well as live broadcast rights for the Lions 1888 Cup fixture between The British & Irish Lions and Argentina which is taking place at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. This landmark fixture will be simulcast on Sky Sports who have exclusive rights to broadcast the Tour live in the UK and Ireland.
Australia host the Lions for the first time in 12 years, with the two-time World Cup winners recently appointing Joe Schmidt as their Head Coach. He will go head-to-head with his former Irish assistant coach Andy Farrell, the Head Coach of the Lions for the 2025 Tour.
The first Test will be played at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Saturday 19 July. The 100,000 capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will host the second Test on Saturday 26 July, while the Series will conclude in Sydney on Saturday 2 August at Accor Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park. The Tour will also include pre-Test fixtures against Australia’s Super Rugby Pacific sides and an invitational Australian and New Zealand team.
Ben Calveley, CEO of The British & Irish Lions, commented, “The British & Irish Lions has a global fan base of over 14 million and as we continue the countdown to 2025, it is important to ensure all our fans across the world have the opportunity to watch Andy Farrell and the team in action. We are delighted to be partnering with Pitch for our international media rights distribution and look forward to working with them to bring the eagerly anticipated 2025 Tour to even more fans around the world.”
Phil Waugh, CEO of Rugby Australia said, “The British & Irish Lions Tour is one of the great sporting spectacles in the world of sport and Rugby Australia is excited to be welcoming back the Lions for the first time in 12 years. As part of that spectacle, we’re committed to delivering world class coverage across the globe and this partnership goes a long way to achieving that. We look forward to working with The Lions and Pitch over the coming months as preparations for the 2025 Tour continue to intensify.”
Pitch International Managing Director of Rugby, Henri Kamerling, said announcing the deal: “We are excited to be working alongside the legendary Lions and Rugby Australia on what promises to be an incredibly exciting and hard-fought series. We believe that we can use our unique understanding of the rugby media rights landscape to further grow the popularity of this much-loved brand and take it to a truly global audience.”
