US broadcast sees Aviva Premiership break viewing records

Aviva Premiership Rugby has kicked off with a record-breaking weekend on television both at home and abroad.

For the first time in the history of the competition more than one million people watched the opening round of Aviva Premiership Rugby in the UK and Ireland on both BT Sport and ITV Sport.

The competition was also broadcast live on NBC in America for the first time and in a record-breaking 175m households across the world.

– 1.057 million people watched Aviva Premiership Rugby in UK and Ireland this weekend on BT Sport and ITV Sport
– The best television audience for an opening weekend, medic beating 861,000 in 2014
– Aviva Premiership Rugby was live on NBC and available in more than 175 million households across the world for the first time

The Gloucester Rugby v Leicester Tigers match achieved a peak audience of 257,000 on BT Sport, the most ever for a Friday night fixture.

“These figures represent a fantastic start to the new season and shows the huge appeal of Aviva Premiership Rugby worldwide,” said Dominic Hayes, Commercial Director at Premiership Rugby.

“This season sees a step change in the global reach of Aviva Premiership Rugby.  The competition is now broadcast in more countries, more often than ever before with every single game live on TV somewhere in the world.

“We saw matchday attendances rise two per cent in 2015-16 and that trend has continued with a 10% year-on-year rise at Twickenham on Saturday for the London Double Header and impressive crowd figures at other grounds.”