Women’s Sports Group (WSG), the body that aims to boost the profile and value of female sport, has today (June 29) been appointed by the newly rebranded Premiership Women’s Rugby (formerly Premier15s) to manage its media rights strategy.
Under its new role, WSG will oversee the sale of the league’s media rights, starting with an invitation to tender for the rights.
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The domestic rights to the 2022-23 women's rugby season were held by UK public broadcaster the BBC, which showed one game per round on its iPlayer streaming platform, the BBC Sport app, and its website.
Two live streams per round were shown on Premier15s.com, one of which was also covered by the BBC.
The previous campaign saw pay-TV’s BT Sport join the BBC as a broadcaster for the competition across the semi-finals and final.
WSG managing director Steph Harries said: “We believe that the growth of women’s cricket and soccer will be joined by women’s rugby in attracting new fans and larger audiences.
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By GlobalData“We will provide PWR with a full service, advising on their media strategy, undertake the broadcast sales process, and oversee the broadcast tender process to ensure quality coverage and the best solution for fans.”
Women's Sports Group was launched in October 2019 by Dame Heather Rabbatts, who, between 2012 and 2017, was the first female independent non-executive director and board member of the Football Association.
David Kogan, a respected media rights consultant and co-founder of Reel Enterprises, helped establish Women's Sports Group, and will lead the work with PWR, having advised on sports rights sales for the Premier League, Women’s Super League, English Football League, Premiership Rugby, Six Nations, and the NFL.
The appointment comes days after the RFU announced Premier 15s would rebrand into Premier Women’s Rugby next season as part of a 10-year plan to further professionalize women’s rugby in the country.
Premier 15s was launched in 2017, and its current title sponsor is financial services and insurance company Allianz.
The rebrand will see PWR, led by chief executive Belinda Moore, manage the PWR club competition, which will launch later this year as a 10-team league in partnership with RFU.
The teams to feature in the new league include Bristol Bears, Ealing Trailfinders, Exeter Chiefs, Gloucester-Hartpury, Harlequins, Leicester Tigers, Loughborough Lightning, Sale Sharks, Saracens, and the University of Worcester.
Moore said: “Our vision is to create the most competitive progressive, and sustainable domestic rugby competition in the world, and we need a compelling broadcast proposition to do that.
“Partnerships will be crucial for us as we deliver our 10-year strategy, and the Women’s Sports Group is the perfect home for our media rights.
“Steph Harries and David Kogan have huge experience of the broadcast market, and with the recent arrival of Rachel Knight – after her time at BT Sport – they are a team who will deliver for Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby and the profile of women’s rugby.”
For a deeper dive into how a PWR’s rebrand will change women’s rugby in England, read here.
