ESPN and Major League Rugby (MLR) have announced a multiyear media rights agreement that will bring MLR games to ESPN platforms. Under the new deal, live coverage begins on Saturday, Feb. 15 as the 2025 season kicks off with five matches (6 p.m. ET, ESPN+).

Under the agreement, all regular season and playoff games will stream live on ESPN+, with a select number of matches presented on ESPN2. Additionally, fans can stream replays of each match, highlights and rugby content on The Rugby Network, following a 72-hour delay. As part of the agreement, Major League Rugby will be available across Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Major League Rugby has built a strong foundation as the premier professional rugby league in North America, and we’re thrilled to be part of its next phase of growth,” said Tim Bunnell, ESPN senior vice president of programming and acquisitions. “As MLR continues to establish itself on the North American sports landscape, we look forward to bringing the league’s dynamic competition to an even wider audience.”

“During our 2024 campaign we grew our viewership by more than 25 percent year over year. We are hyperfocused on increasing our audience and introducing rugby to more American sports fans every year. This relationship with ESPN will give us an opportunity to supercharge that growth,” said Nic Benson, Major League Rugby commissioner. “Given the depth of talent across the league, I’m confident we’re headed toward our most exciting season yet. This strategic agreement will enable more of our fans to tune-in for some best-in-class rugby action.”

The 2025 MLR Championship officially begins over President’s Day weekend, featuring 18 weeks of regular season action, followed by two weeks of playoffs, all leading to the MLR Championship on June 28, where the league’s best will battle for the coveted MLR Shield. This season, 11 teams from across the country will compete for the title, including Anthem RC, Chicago Hounds, Houston SaberCats, Miami Sharks, New England Free Jacks, NOLA Gold, Old Glory DC, Rugby LA, San Diego Legion, Seattle Seawolves, and Utah Warriors.

The league’s new media rights agreement substantially increases the league’s visibility and enhances its reach. This move follows a 2024 season marked by growth in media coverage, ticket sales and social media engagement, including the 2024 MLR Championship, which featured a record crowd of more than 12,000 as the New England Free Jacks captured their second straight title with a victory over the Seattle Seawolves, the league reported.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, and BERKELEY, Calif.—European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) has chosen Eluvio to power its EPCR TV global streaming subscription service and deliver enhanced fan experiences, the company said today.

The next-gen streaming video platform will deliver current EPCR matches live and past matches via video-on-demand to fans around the world. The new streaming channel will feature the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup in key global markets, Eluvio said. The 2024-25 EPCR season kicks off on the weekend of Dec. 6.

Available via web browser, mobile devices and Apple TV, Android TV, and Amazon Fire TV with the Eluvio App available for download on their respective stores, EPCR TV enables fans to watch multiple live matches at once, catch up on live matches in progress and rapidly search through live, upcoming and past games. Powered by Eluvio technology, EPCR TV content will be streamed in full HD with dynamic, automatic adaptation of resolution to the user’s available bandwidth and delivered with low latency. Fans will be able to choose from multiple audio tracks—with or without commentary—for a custom experience, it said.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Eluvio to bring best-in-class experiences for EPCR TV audiences. This represents a significant step forward in working with next-generation technology to deliver high performance streaming and expand the global reach of international club rugby’s best competitions,” EPCR CEO Jacques Raynaud said.

“This major improvement to fans’ viewing experience represents a major part of the innovations we are introducing ahead of our 30th season, to bring incredible entertainment, every try and nail-biting moment of the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup to more fans than ever before.”

Eluvio also is providing EPCR with state-of-the-art content security and end-to-end antipiracy protection based on the company’s strong encryption, DRM (digital rights management), authorization, proof of authenticity, forensic watermarking and rights control for a tamper-proof streaming experience, it said.

"We’re honored that EPCR selected Eluvio to bring the new EPCR TV to life,” Eluvio CEO and founder Michelle Munson said. “This is a first-of-a-kind experience for Rugby fans to enjoy high-quality streaming, with access to the best live and archival video content EPCR has to offer. EPCR and fans can engage directly through the platform for maximum enjoyment while benefiting from the most efficient and cutting-edge technology.”

EPCR TV subscribers have several payment options, including a season pass for 49.99 euros ($53.24), which includes access to the live matches. Fans also can choose to buy a weekend pass for 14.99 euros ($15.96), which includes access to the live matches of the round, or purchase single matches for 7.99 euros ($8.51) each. Some archival content will be available for on-demand rewatch during the season, it said.

More information on the technology is available on the Eluvio website.

Subscription information is available from EPCR TV.

STAMFORD, Conn.—Local watering holes can now be the home for passionate rugby, cycling and soccer fans courtesy of a new OTT platform NBC Sports has developed with sports and live entertainment company AEG. NBC Sports Pub Pass is a customizable OTT platform specifically designed for pubs and restaurants in the U.S. to provide their patrons popular international sports.

An exclusive subscription service, Pub Pass provides premium content for soccer, rugby and cycling through a single subscription. With Pub Pass, subscribers will provide live and on-demand content for rugby—Six Nations Championship, Championship Cup, Premiership Rugby and the option to add the Rugby World Cup games—and cycling, includng the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana, Amgen Tour of California, Paris-Roubaix and more. There will also be exclusive content not available on linear TV, including 140 live Premier League soccer matches; 185 live rugby matches; and extra hours of each stage for cycling’s top races.

NBC Sports says that it based the Pub Pass service off of similar features often common in international markets, though, according to NBC, were not available in the U.S.

“There is no substitute for the incredible atmosphere that is created when passionate fans get together in a pub or restaurant to watch their favorite sports and favorite teams and with NBC Sports Pub Pass there will never again be a blackout or any other barrier preventing sports fans from gathering to celebrate the most important matches and sporting events from Europe and around the world,” said Dan Lyle, director, AEG Rugby.

In addition, with the Pub Pass service, NBC Sports says that establishments will no longer charge entrance fees at the door to watch these international broadcasts.

More information on NBC Sports Pub Pass is available at nbcpubpass.com.