I’m not into rugby (union or in general) as much any more, but in the doldrums of February and March and especially during the Winter Olympics between hockey games, I’m interested.
Also this news is quite the tell that Paramount and Skydance, finally completing their merger over the summer, are going to stay the course with Paramount+, though they have a long way to go to make it a modern and fully-functioning app instead of new technology as of 2021 when it launched, since the app is so slow and glitchy like most other paid streaming apps.
Perhaps they are not rebranding the app after all, but it’s certainly do for an overhaul of its interface and a relaunch.
As it is now, I certainly won’t be subscribing anew, and definitely not at higher rates, lest they were to come back and offer me a “keeper” promotion after I proceed to cancel in late February 2026.
On the Rugby side of things - this is what I think is happening here - this isn’t just a media rights deal—it’s a long-game conversion strategy for the sport. 2025–2029 is the runway. Paramount+ isn’t just acquiring rugby content; they’re absorbing the entire funnel from hardcore fans to casual sports browsers.
This is the pivot from a niche, paywalled, hard-to-find sport to one that shows up right next to your NFL recaps and NCAA clips. And it’s not just the men’s World Cup. They’re locking in women’s games, youth championships, Pacific Nations Cup, SVNS, all of it—year-round. That’s saturation play, not just event coverage.
It signals a shift in posture: World Rugby isn’t content to serve existing fans anymore. They’re going after growth. This is about building U.S. presence before 2031 (Men’s WC) and 2033 (Women’s WC) using CBS and Paramount+ as the pipeline. Every click, every match watched, every kid who sees a highlight reel and asks “what sport is this?”—that’s now part of a deliberate, multi-year onboarding process.
We’ll see if it lands. as @Paolo_X says - Execution matters—app stability, interface, promotion, actual discoverability. But the strategy’s clear: build the ecosystem now, so by 2031 you don’t need to introduce rugby to Americans—you just remind them it’s here.
And let’s not ignore the economics of this play—this adds cheap, high-volume content to Paramount+ at a time when every streamer is starving for global sports programming without NFL-level price tags. Rugby offers tons of live events, international flair, built-in narratives, and tons of inventory—men’s, women’s, sevens, U20, test matches—all of which can be streamed, clipped, repackaged, and pushed year-round. This play to get rugby is not just a sports rights grab, it’s totally a cost-effective content engine that fills the calendar and keeps subscribers in the game without bidding wars.
Media wise, it isn’t much of a shift. World Rugby has been on NBC, NBCSN (before it folded) and now Peacock for 15 years or so.
About 2-5 rugby matches per year were shown on NBC tv. During Rugby World Cups, 2-4 matches were shown on NBC during the weekends.
Will CBS tv show the same number as NBC? CBSSN has limited reach and cable subs continue to slip. Being on P+ is same as being on Peacock. Will P+ have shoulder programming? Will they launch a FAST channel a la Golazo for soccer?
NBC will continue to own rights to 6 Nations & US national team matches. Rights to various leagues belong to Fox Sports. Rugby’s version of Champions League is held by TV5 and Flosports. The best domestic league that is French Top14 rights are held by TV5.
I don’t agree with you equating Paramount+ with Peacock at all, but from the standpoint of strictly programming and exposure, I do agree with you.
As noted separately in the Streaming thread, much like is already happening to Peacock though from within, Paramount+ is another one of these financially-failing streaming services that will be overhauled and possibly rebranded, as noted in the opening post.
For two years already, much of the formerly exclusive programming to Paramount+ has been drifted over to other Paramount properties, including CBS, CBS SN, Golazo, and separately UEFA’s Champions League FAST channels.
We’ll see more of that drift of core content away from cable and streaming in time, but Paramount is not there yet with live sports on FAST channels, which we see as the future already brewing via various other niche sports.