Premiership Rugby have made an announcement this morning covering remaining fixtures in the 2019/20 season and broadcast coverage.
Here is the statement in full:
Premiership Rugby can today confirm that the resumption of the 2019/20 Gallagher Premiership Rugby season will be shown live on BT Sport, with every match which is played behind closed doors live on BT Sport.
Once crowds can safely return to stadia, BT Sport will revert to broadcasting multiple matches exclusively live per round.
In a ground-breaking agreement between Premiership Rugby and BT Sport, fans can watch more live matches than ever before, from August 14, including all six matches in Round 14 on that weekend.
Click here for Gallagher Premiership fixture list.
BT Sport is also working with Premiership Rugby and its clubs to offer eligible season ticket holders free access to home Gallagher Premiership matches broadcast on the BT Sport App.
The BT Sport Match Pass is designed for season ticket holders of participating clubs who do not already have a BT Sport subscription and cannot attend their home matches in person due to the current restrictions. Eligibility for the Match Pass is at the individual club’s discretion and is not determined by BT. Further information will be made available via clubs soon.
Rugby fans will have more ways to watch rugby’s restart than ever, with the BT Sport Monthly Pass offering no-contract access for one month at a time, for just £25.
BT Sport’s Monthly Pass is available on a wide range of devices and platforms including Samsung smart TV, Sony PlayStation, Xbox, Now TV, Apple TV, as well as mobiles and tablets. BT Sport is also available via BT TV, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media.
Premiership Rugby’s chief commercial officer Mark Brittain said: "We are so pleased that our loyal fans won’t miss a moment of the action as Premiership Rugby returns on 14 August. Huge thanks to our partners at BT Sport for their collaboration to bring viewers the very best Gallagher Premiership Rugby experience possible, in what promises to be a compelling conclusion to the season.”
Simon Green, head of BT Sport, said: “The return of Gallagher Premiership Rugby is an exciting moment for rugby fans and we’re pleased to be bringing more Premiership Rugby than ever before to BT Sport subscribers.
"We are looking forward to broadcasting live domestic club rugby again and bringing new innovations to our customers to give them the best viewing experience. Alongside every fixture from the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League in August, live Moto GP and now live rugby, viewers will be in for a packed summer of sport like never before.”
BT Sport will present live coverage from the grounds, led by a team of rugby experts and commentators including Craig Doyle, Sarra Elgan, Martin Bayfield, Ugo Monye, Ben Kay, Lawrence Dallaglio, Austin Healey, Nick Mullins and Ali Eykyn.
Viewers of certain matches on BT Sport will be able to watch with pre-recorded dynamic crowd noise – the line-up of matches available with crowd noise to be confirmed in due course.
BT Sport will also make selected games available in 4K HDR via BT Sport Ultimate, as well as using its industry-leading remote production capabilities to comply with COVID-19 restrictions, and minimise the number of production crew attending grounds, with the majority of crew working remotely or from home.
Coverage will include editions of Rugby Tonight on Tour and Gallagher Premiership Rugby Tonight thru the season. On btsport.com, a comprehensive ‘state of play’ round-up will detail the season so far, alongside a club-by-club guide to what fans might have missed during the lockdown.
Premiership Rugby is today confirming the dates and kick-off times of almost every match for the remainder of the 2019-20 season. We are still in consultation with our clubs over the composition of Round 21 and the date of the Premiership Rugby Cup Final. The confirmed fixtures for Round 21 and the Premiership Rugby Cup Final will be announced at a later date.
Premiership Rugby can also confirm that the 2020-21 Gallagher Premiership Rugby season will start on Friday 20 November, concluding with the Final at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday 26 June.
Four of the 57 matches in the remainder of the season will also be shown free-to-air on Channel 5 – to be announced soon – while the Premiership Rugby highlights programme will also be on Channel 5 from Monday, 17 August.
