The BBC has come under fire after losing the rights to broadcast the Rugby League World Cup, with the tournament now airing exclusively on Premier Sports. International Rugby League chair Troy Grant criticised the broadcaster for not offering enough money to televise the event, which is currently underway in Australia.
In 2021, the BBC broadcast all 61 games across the men's, women's and wheelchair tournaments. However, for the 2026 event, the BBC is claimed to have made a 'disappointing' offer, allowing Premier Sports to secure the rights.
Grant hits out at BBC offer
Speaking to the i, Grant said: "We're not a charity. Revenue into the game has to come from somewhere. And the reality is that in the IRL, we operate more like a not-for-profit organisation. So we're not there to make money for ourselves."
He added: "We're a low-cost operation and the money we raise, we reinvest back into the participation of the game. So we have to make money."
Grant highlighted that the 2021 World Cup broadcast was "given away for a dollar" and that the organisers paid for production. He said: "From a commercial point of view, that's nuts."
Commercial strategy questioned
Despite the 2021 tournament's large viewership, Grant argued that the strategy did not translate into growth for the sport. He said: "That has not translated to better uptake overall on the Super League, the premier level of the game in England.
"I'm not sure quality-wise Super League has got much better in the last four years, given the size of the growth and the eyeballs. It just hasn't translated. And that was a big commercial decision that really whacked the organisers hard."
Grant explained that the IRL reduced its rights fee due to the impacts of Covid and the postponement, and that everyone was offered the 2026 rights. He said: "Premier Sports came in with a decent offer that I believe is affordable."
Premier Sports subscription defended
Grant defended the £19 price for Premier Sports coverage, saying: "I think it's more a habitual thing where people aren't used to paying for sport, but that's the new world. We all pay for streaming and for £19 to get the amount of content and the quality of the content coming out of the World Cup is not a big price to pay."
He added: "I understand times are tough for a lot of people as well. I get all that sort of stuff, but I think £19 was still a reasonable figure. We're really happy with Premier Sports, disappointed that the BBC didn't stump up, but that's a matter for them and for them to explain to their viewers as well."
In response, a BBC spokesperson said: "We must make difficult choices to deliver the savings required while continuing to serve audiences as effectively as possible."
Calls for free-to-air protection
Jon Trickett MP has called on the government to make matches at the Rugby League World Cup free-to-air and protected for the foreseeable future. He told City AM: "The problem rugby league has is that the feed stock has been cut off, that's ordinary kids watching sport on TV living in poorer families."
He added: "A lot of the rugby league clubs come from deprived communities – they are not able to pay for pay-for-view TV and they're not able to see their heroes. The [government] has the power to list sporting events and it's tragic that the World Cup is not seen on terrestrial television."
The loss of the Rugby League World Cup follows a trend of the BBC losing broadcast rights to sporting events in 2026, including the Boat Race and the Commonwealth Games, which will be shown by Channel 4 and TNT Sports respectively.
