If you’re sick of the football hype and prefer an oval ball, don’t despair – BT Sport and Sky have both announced their line-ups for the new European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup.
BT will be showing English teams Saracens, Leicester, Wasps, Harlequins and Bath in the opening weekend, while Sky will get Sale Sharks, Ospreys and The Scarlets.
They will be showing all 20 games in Rounds 1 and 2 live, with both Sky and BT each showing 10 matches each, while rounds 3-6 yet to be divided up. At the end of the year, each broadcaster will have two quarter-finals and a semi-final, and the final will be shown on both BT Sport and Sky Sports.
Grant Best, senior executive channel producer at BT Sport, said: “As well as being the home of the world leading Aviva Premiership, we’re delighted to be adding coverage of Europe’s premier rugby competition to our line-up.
“We are passionate about rugby at BT Sport and look forward to growing the profile of European rugby. Last season, in our inaugural season of Aviva Premiership Rugby, TV audiences rose by 40 per cent.”
The European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup have risen from the ashes of the Heineken Cup after financial disagreements between the clubs destroyed the old competition.
European Rugby Challenge Cup 2014/15
In the European Rugby Challenge Cup, they’ll show just one game each in the first two rounds.
Sky will show Gloucester Rugby v Brive on October 16, and BT Sport will carry London Welsh v Bordeaux-Begles on October 23.
European Rugby Champions Cup 2014/15
BT Sport’s first live match will be between Leicester and Ulster at Welford Road, where Leicester will attempt to take back the glory after the away side finished its 25-match unbeaten home run in the Heineken Cup last January.
The next match aired on BT will be between Wasps and Leinster at the RDS stadium, followed by Bath vs Glasgows Warriors and Harlequins vs Castres.
In the second round, BT will hold the rights to show Wasps vs Harlequins, Saracens vs Munster, Leicester vs The Scarlets and Bath vs Toulouse, while Sky will host Ulster vs Toulon, Northampton vs Ospreys, Monpellier vs Glasgow, Castres vs Leister and ASM Clermont Auvergene vs Sale.
The full BT Sport and Sky Sport line-ups for the European Rugby Champions Cup 2014/15 rounds 1 and 2 are:
| Date | Clubs | Broadcaster |
|---|---|---|
| October 17, 2014 | Harlequins vs Castres Olympique | BT Sport |
| October 18, 2014 | Sale Sharks vs Munster Rugby | Sky Sports |
| October 18, 2014 | Saracens vs ASM Clermont Auvergne | BT Sport |
| October 18, 2014 | Glasgow Warriors vs Bath Rugby | BT Sport |
| October 18, 2014 | Racing Métro 92 vs Northampton Saints | Sky Sports |
| October 18, 2014 | Leicester Tigers vs Ulster Rugby | BT Sport |
| October 19, 2014 | Ospreys vs Benetton Treviso | Sky Sports |
| October 19, 2014 | Toulouse vs Montpellier | Sky Sports |
| October 19, 2014 | RC Toulon vs Scarlets | Sky Sports |
| October 19, 2014 | Leinster Rugby vs Wasps | BT Sport |
| Date | Clubs | Broadcaster |
|---|---|---|
| October 24, 2014 | HarMunster Rugby vs Saracens | BT Sport |
| October 25, 2014 | Ulster Rugby vs RC Toulon | Sky Sports |
| October 25, 2014 | Bath Rugby vs Toulouse | BT Sport |
| October 25, 2014 | Northampton Saints vs Ospreys | Sky Sports |
| October 25, 2014 | Montpellier vs Glasgow Warriors | Sky Sports |
| October 25, 2014 | Scarlets vs Leicester Tigers | BT Sport |
| October 26, 2014 | Castres Olympique vs Leinster Rugby | Sky Sports |
| October 26, 2014 | ASM Clermont Auvergne vs Sale Sharks | Sky Sports |
| October 26, 2014 | Wasps vs Harlequins | BT Sport |
| October 26, 2014 | Benetton Treviso vs Racing Métro 92 | BT Sport |
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