What is Rugby? » Media

Six Nations rugby coverage dropped following Setanta / Fox Soccer deal

Vic Drover — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:16:08 +0000

However, the recent transfer of the broadcast rights to Fox Soccer Channel worried rugby fans around the country as Fox has a spotty record when it comes to broadcasting the sport in America and Canada. Today these fears were confirmed as Fox Sports Plus (a sister network of Fox Soccer Channel) announced their rugby line-up in advance of the March 1 network launch.

ABC broadcasting the USA Sevens on Saturday at 5PM EST

Vic Drover — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:03:03 +0000

Just as American coverage of international rugby begins to fade, USA Sevens LLC announced today that ABC will broadcast the 2010 USA Sevens event from last weekend in Las Vegas. Although it's only a 1-hour program, it's always great to see domestic rugby programming, especially when the Six Nations has a bye week.

Setanta sells US rights to FOX – US rugby fans despair

Vic Drover — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:45:27 +0000

Given the uncertainty of the USA Super League and financial shortcomings over the last few years of the USA Rugby 7s championship, it would appear that the domestic market for rugby is low. This may explain why Setanta cancelled all coverage of rugby league in 2009. The only place where we are seeing MORE rugby broadcasting is from BBC America who are showing 5 LIVE matches from the 2010 Six Nations championship. To my knowledge, live internationals from the Six Nations have never been shown on cable TV in the US.

Live international rugby in the New World – it’s about time

Vic Drover — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 22:40:51 +0000

I think it was around the time of the 1995 World Cup that I started following rugby and looking for it on TV.

At that time in Canada, I remember a 2-hour show that came on once a week (sometimes, at least) with a few highlights from the semi-pro teams and one test match shown on tape delay (usually a week or more old).

The only way to watch live rugby on TV was to find a local pub with a satellite feed. When I moved from the East coast to the Canadian Rockies, Oscar’s Pub was very close to our rugby club (Druids RFC) and would broadcast the Five Nations Championship (now the Six Nations, the premier tournament in the Northern hemisphere) at 7AM along with a good English fry-up and a few pints.

In 2002 I emigrated to the US. Even in down-state New York, where rugby is very popular, watching live rugby remained limited to pubs with satellite feeds and expensive admissions fees. It was essentially ignored by both network and cable TV.

With the growth of the internet and the wide bandwidth offered by most high-speed ISPs, online services such are RugbyZone are excellent options for seeing live rugby. But getting it on a TV is not trivial, and the quality is not appropriate for anything other than a small computer screen.

So after a wait of nearly 15 years, it seems that myself and many other rugby union fans here in the ‘New World’ can finally get some live-rugby broadcast satisfaction. Yesterday, BBC America announced that they will be broadcasting five matches from the 2010 Six Nations Championship.

Time Warner Cable in Wisconsin broadcasts BBC America on channel 225 (Regular Definition) and 1225 (High Definition), and the following matches are scheduled:

Wales @ England (London) – 6-Feb, 12:00 PM (EST)
Ireland @ France (Paris) – 13-Feb, 11:30 AM (EST)
Ireland @ England (London) – 27-Feb, 11:00 AM (EST)
Wales @ Ireland (Dublin) – 13-March, 9:30 AM (EST)
England @ France (Paris) – 20-Mar, 9:00 AM (EST)

Interestingly, matches involving Italy or Scotland are visibly absent from the schedule. Its not clear wether this is due contractual restrictions with the Scottish and Italian Rugby Unions and/or venues.

One possibility is that BBC America made a strategic decision to showcase only the most exciting matches to gauge interest for this type of programming here in America. Since Scotland and Italy consistently finish at the bottom of the Six Nations tables, it makes sense to omit these teams. In addition, the matches chosen for broadcast are historically exciting contests.

Whatever the reason for the limited-yet-live coverage of the Six Nations, us colonials should feel quite content with this welcome development of increased rugby coverage. I challenge all our readers to contact both BBC America and your local TV provider and ask for more!

In addition, I’ve started this online petition to forward to BBC America and BBC Canada once all of the matches above have been aired.

http://bit.ly/rugbyontv

If enough people send their support, maybe we’ll get more rugby internationals and maybe even some domestic rugby on TV.

For starters, the annual USA Sevens tournament (Feb 13 & 14, 2010 in Las Vegas) deserves full, live coverage in the coming years. At least then I can watch two full days of live international rugby from my living room and won’t have to leave my wife back in Badgerland on Valentines Day

I think it was around the time of the 1995 World Cup that I started following rugby and looking for it on TV. At that time in Canada, I remember a 2-hour show that came on once a week (sometimes, at least) with a few highlights from the semi-pro teams and one test match shown on [...]

Sign the petition – support rugby on television

Vic Drover — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 22:27:05 +0000

We the undersigned strongly support BBC America in their live broadcast of the 2010 Six Nations Championship as announced on 21-Jan-2010 and would encourage both BBC America and BBC Canada to schedule more live programming of rugby union.

Why are we still comparing Wilkinson and Cipriani?

Vic Drover — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:46:41 +0000

In every article, they talk about Wilkinson, then report the ‘non-news’ that “Oh, by the way, Cipriani wasn’t selected”. Then there’s the required photo of Cipriani giving Wilkinson some ‘advice’ during the 2008 Six Nations (above), as if Wilkinson is somehow pissed that he has to listen to Cipriani. Can we drop the bullshit here folks.

If this keeps up, I’m switching to badminton

Vic Drover — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:38:09 +0000

What really burns my balls is when rugby players and fans start to look a lot more like the hooligans of football (a.k.a. soccer).

Creating a web site for your rugby club: a step-by-step guide

Vic Drover — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:54:59 +0000

For all the rugby clubs around the world, having a professional web site with up-to-date information is critical for recruiting new talent and satisfying sponsors. Here are 5 fast and easy steps to re-creating your brand online:

South African rugby: can you spell ‘Drama Queen’

Vic Drover — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:57:42 +0000

The more I read about rugby in South Africa, the more I feel like I'm reading some trashy diva piece in the Enquirer or some other bottom-feeding, pop-culture rag. What's got my knickers in a knot this time? If you have not heard, there is currently a row over the use of the Springbok, an antelope indigenous to South Africa, on the national team jersey. Yes, that's right. The most serious issue in South African rugby is apparently what mascot to use on the damn shirts. Oh ... my ... God!

New Zealand rugby fans impress as All Blacks return home with shame

Vic Drover — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:12:30 +0000

'It's how you win, not how you play the game'. That seems to be the consensus among international media who have collectively dubbed the All Blacks 'world class chokers' following the exit of New Zealand, the pre-championship favorites, from the 2007 Rugby World Cup at the hands of France.