Rugby fans have had their say on who their favourite broadcaster is amid an overwhelming refusal to pay for Six Nations coverage from 2022.
The tournament, which begins on February 6, is set to move behind a paywall from 2022 after investment company CVC Capital acquired a 14.5% stake in the competition's commercial rights - paving the way to move the championship from completely free-to-air TV channels in a bid to increase revenue.
While it's expected that no country will be able to have more than three of their Six Nations matches on subscription TV, it will still mean fans generally having to dig into their pockets to keep up with their team.
It's a complex issue, with the sport as a whole suffering huge financial losses amid the coronavirus pandemic, so valuable broadcast rights would provide a much-needed financial boost, but others argue the game is so important to our culture that is should be accessible to all.
So, we asked you - the fans - for your verdict on this divisive subject: would you pay to watch the Six Nations from 2022?
Almost 8,000 responses were received, with 60% saying they would not pay to watch the tournament, while 25% said it would depend on cost. 15% said they would pay.
As for whether or not Six Nations rugby should remain on free-to-air TV for all to enjoy, 94% said it should while 6% disagreed.
Here, we take a look at the likely new Six Nations TV channels and what each broadcaster could bring to the table.
As for rugby coverage right now, fans have been busy giving us their verdict on who they think the best rugby broadcaster is when it comes to international or club/regional rugby.
The BBC was ranked as the most popular - pulling in nearly half of the votes - followed by S4C and ITV, with not much between them.
Not much separated BT Sport, Channel 4, Sky Sports and Amazon Prime, but Channel 5 - who currently show English Premiership highlights and the odd live game - were ranked second to last behind Premier Sports, the home of the Guinness PRO14.
The rugby broadcasters ranked:
- BBC - 44%
- S4C - 14%
- ITV - 12%
- BT Sport - 7%
- Channel 4 - 7%
- Sky Sports - 6%
- Amazon Prime 6%
- Channel 5 - 2%
- Premier Sports - 1%
Select your best Wales XV for the Six Nations below (or via a survey here)
As for the potential effect of moving Six Nations coverage to one of that selection of broadcasters, 89% of respondents to our survey believed there will be a participation drop, particularly among grassroots levels, if the tournament moves from free-to-air TV, while 11% did not share the same opinion.
The Six Nations, including the 2021 edition, has always been available to watch on free-to-air TV but there's nothing to stop it moving to subscription channels due to the tournament not being granted the relevant status of protection by the UK Government.
The most likely option would appear to be a mixture of terrestrial and subscription TV.
