The Six Nations and Sanzaar unions have entered a groundbreaking agreement to collectively sell all their media rights and commercial deals for the first time, establishing a new revenue-sharing model.

This innovative partnership allows southern hemisphere nations to benefit from profits generated by the Six Nations and British & Irish Lions tours, while European countries will gain from broadcast and sponsorship deals associated with the Rugby Championship and the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series featuring New Zealand and South Africa.

Key points of the agreement include:

• A new rights management agency will oversee the sales process, managed by a 10-person board created for the Nations Championship, which resumes this weekend.
• The Nations Championship rights are already sold collectively, with revenue shared among the 10 founding members, including the Six Nations, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, and Argentina.
• Smaller appearance fees will be provided to Fiji and Japan.

Bill Sweeney, chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, stated, "In effect, we are creating a commercial rights agency which sits underneath the 10 Nations Championship founding unions. We think that will result in a much better and more efficient approach to the market, with the intention of increasing overall valuations and growing the commercial side of the game."

The new arrangements are anticipated to impact sponsorship and commercial deals starting in 2028, aligning with the second edition of the Nations Championship, while TV rights sales will remain unaffected until 2031, as existing rights are secured until 2029. The next TV rights cycle in 2030 is expected to be particularly competitive, with the opportunity to purchase packages for all three competitions.