European Rugby bosses have defended the decision to sign a new, three-year broadcast deal to screen Champions Cup and Challenge Cup matches on Premier Sports and insisted the move represents a ‘significant uplift’ financially which will benefit its participant clubs.

The move means Premier succeed TNT Sports as Britain and Ireland’s main television partner for the 2024-25 tournaments and beyond.

There will be no terrestrial coverage in England as part of the Premier contract.

The decision to partner with Premier means European rugby’s elite club tournaments have now disappeared from mainstream television. It will be seen by many as a blow for a sport which has already had to deal with its fair share of financial issues since the Covid-19 pandemic.

But European Rugby chief executive Jacques Raynaud, while refusing to disclose the exact worth of the Premier deal, hinted it provided the organisation with a monetary uplift from its TNT partnership. ‘The financial element of the deal and delivering money back to the clubs was at the heart of our tough negotiations,’ said Raynaud.

TNT have expanded from club rugby into the Test arena and have prioritised the latter while remaining unwilling to increase their payments for European rights

‘I won’t give you the level, but it provides a significant uplift and it was certainly a very important point. This is the result of a very competitive process which ended in Premier Sports winning based on three criteria: growing the game, finances for the club and viewership and sponsorship exposure.

‘The priority was club finances overall. We did strike a balance after a difficult discussion.’

TNT Sports (previously BT Sport) had been the principal broadcaster of the Champions and Challenge Cup matches since 2018 with occasional games shown on terrestrial channels ITV or Channel 4. The Gallagher Premiership – English rugby’s top division – is shown by TNT. It means fans of English clubs will need to have two subscription services to watch their team in action this season and beyond. There is a concern that with an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, that is unfeasible for some.

TNT have expanded from club rugby into the Test arena by acquiring the television rights for the November 2024 autumn internationals alongside their Premiership duties.

In doing so, they have prioritised Test rugby and were understood to be unwilling to increase what they had previously paid for their European rights.

Premier Sports are no strangers to rugby. They currently hold the rights to the United Rugby Championship – the league made up of teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and South Africa – as well as France’s TOP14. After acquiring the Champions and Challenge Cups, Premier plan to build a dedicated rugby channel.

Their European deal will see Premier cover all 63 Champions Cup matches, as well as two Challenge Cup pool matches per round and all matches in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of both competitions. Premier Sports costs £10.99-a-month for UK residents.

‘We want to make a one-stop shop with this rugby channel and we would look at international rights in the future,’ said Premier Sports chief executive Richard Sweeney.

Premier Sports already have the rights to the United Rugby Championship and France’s TOP14

Premier Sports and European Rugby are keen for their prestige Champions Cup matches not to clash with Premier League football games. It means some of the rugby tournament’s games will be shown at 5.30pm on Sundays – a timeslot which TNT had previously gone against.

Raynaud added: ‘This is an exclusive deal. There are a couple of carve outs. There will be a game per week on S4C and one Irish match on RTE in the first season. It is true free-to-air does have its advantages. But it is also true that free-to-air is reinventing themselves.

‘The fact that English fans had both the European competitions and the domestic competition as part of one package was the exception.

‘I accept that for an English rugby fan, there will be a change in habits. I think we have chosen a provider with a fantastic offering and a very affordable subscription.

‘I am hoping we will convince hundreds of thousands to add this on. It is very easy and accessible. It is very affordable. We have taken this into account.’