French broadcaster TF1 has announced that it has picked up the rights to the 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup. The deal also includes the rights to the new Nations Championship competition, which will start next year and take place on a biennial basis.
Big French broadcaster shows popular sport in France, in a continuation of a longstanding arrangement. So far, so standard. However, earlier this summer, the French outlet agreed a distribution deal with Netflix. It means that from Summer 2026, subscribers will be able to watch TF1 programming via the streamer, both live and on catch-up.
It means that French viewers will be able to watch the Rugby World Cup via Netflix. Commenting, François Pellisier, Executive Vice President Business & Sports at the TF1 Group, said:
We are delighted to continue our long-standing partnership with World Rugby. This agreement demonstrates our ongoing commitment to offering French audiences major sporting events that unite and bring people together. This new and ambitious deal, combined with the broadcast of the Nations Championship, allows us to provide French rugby fans with an exceptional offering. Groupe TF1 has built a first-class sports lineup, and we are determined to support our national teams by giving them the finest showcase on our channels.
Rugby Deal Shows How Netflix Might do Sport in Future
There has been discussion for years (including in my new book, Streaming Wars,) about Netflix showing live sport. They pretended for years that they were not interested. Then, like every other streaming service, they got interested. The focus for them has tended to be on one-off events, things like NFL games on Christmas Day or standout boxing cards. These kinds of arrangements do though mean that Netflix subscribers get access to top-class sporting events, without the streaming service having to pay for the rights or worrying about the production. Crucially, it also encourages viewers to stay within the Netflix ecosystem for longer.
These factors must have played a part in making the deal attractive to Netflix in the first place. We will surely see more arrangements like this in the future.
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