ITV in-game Six Nations ads will keep sport free-to-air, experts say
ITV’s introduction of advertising during matches at the Six Nations is a sign of things to come but will keep more sport on free-to-air television, say experts.
Starting tomorrow, the broadcaster will show split-screen adverts during pauses in play at this year’s competition, such as when scrums are being reset.
It has led to concerns that the tournament could lose casual viewers who do not understand the complexities of the scrum, but will crucially allow ITV to recoup some of its heavy investment into free-to-air rugby and keep the tournament open to all.
Ed Mullins, senior director of inventory and partnerships at StackAdapt, a marketing platform working on the Winter Olympics, told Morning Wire: “The cost of sports rights continues to surge, and broadcasters simply can’t rely on traditional ad breaks alone if they want to keep major tournaments accessible to mass audiences.
“Fans may bristle at first, but there’s a commercial reality here. If broadcasters can’t find new ways to monetise live sport, the likely outcome isn’t fewer ads, it’s more content moving behind paywalls. For many viewers, that’s a far worse trade-off than seeing limited advertising during natural pauses in play.”
Shake-up for ITV
ITV, which will also play a key part in broadcasting this year’s Fifa World Cup, paid a reported £80m to secure access to the inaugural rugby Nations Championship, meaning all of England’s international matches will be free-to-air until the end of the decade.
ITV shares the Six Nations coverage with the BBC, but the ad-funded channel has access to all of the England matches ahead of the public service broadcaster.
Added Mullins: “The real risk isn’t the presence of ads, it’s how they’re delivered. If broadcasters overload the experience or disrupt key moments, audiences will push back quickly. But if these formats are used sparingly and intelligently, they could become a standard part of live sports viewing much sooner than fans might expect.”