The Rugby World Cup is covered, well and truly, by Spark Sport and TVNZ. All 48 games will be streamed live and on-demand on Spark Sport, as well as twelve games being shown on free-to-air on TVNZ 1. Additionally, comprehensive supporting analysis and in-depth news coverage will be available.
The 12 games on TVNZ 1 will include the coverage of all of New Zealand’s pool matches, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, and the final, although, the games from the quarter-finals and prior will be delayed.
But what does this mean for commercial venues? With Spark Sport’s recent announcement of their partnership with SKY, bars and restaurants have the option of streaming the games through their existing SKY decoder, or through streaming via Spark Sport’s packages. There is, of course, the option of simply using the delayed coverage on TVNZ 1, but that is something that has the potential to dissuade avid fans.
Head of Spark Sport, Jeff Latch said that Spark Sport is excited to bring a fresh take on the Rugby World Cup to New Zealand. “We’ve designed a line-up of presenters and commentators and a range of programming that aims to bring some new thinking to the coverage, while still maintaining the essentials that rugby fans know and love. The talent that we’ve recruited demonstrates that—there are some well-loved names in there, but also some exciting newer talent.”
TVNZ GM sport and events, Melodie Robinson, said, “What’s different about this World Cup is that we’ve brought in software technology, combined with TVNZ’s Augmented Reality capabilities, that will allow us to analyse rugby to a level that hasn’t been seen in this country before.”
