FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 19th, 2019

RUGBY WORLD CUP 2019 BEGINS TOMORROW WITH RUSSIA V. HOST-NATION JAPAN AT 6:30 AM ET ON NBCSN

NBC Sports to Present Unprecedented 250+ Hours of Rugby World Cup 2019 Matches & Programming

26 Matches Televised Live on NBCSN, Including All Team USA Matches and Rugby World Cup 2019 Final

NBC Sports Gold’s Direct-to-Consumer “Rugby World Cup Pass” to Live Stream All 48 Tournament Games – 22 Exclusively – Available Now for $199

The Story of Rugby Documentary Premieres Across NBC Sports on Sunday, September 22

STAMFORD, Conn. – Sept. 19, 2019 – The 2019 Rugby World Cup begins tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 20, when host-nation Japan faces Russia from Tokyo Stadium at 6:30 a.m. ET on NBCSN and NBC Sports Gold in the first Rugby World Cup ever to be hosted in Asia. Coverage begins at 6:00 a.m. ET on NBCSN.

Signifying the start of the tournament, NBC Sports Gold will present exclusive live coverage of the World Cup Opening Ceremony at 5:30 a.m. ET on Friday, ahead of the opening match.

NBC Sports’ Ahmed Fareed will host coverage of the opening match on NBCSN with studio analysts Alex Corbisiero, who played internationally for England, Brian Hightower, a former USA Rugby World Cup participant and USA Sevens captain, and Dan Lyle, former USA Rugby captain and Premiership Rugby player. Commentating the game from Japan will be Alastair Eykyn and co-commentator Martyn Williams, along with reporter Karl Tenana. Sky Sports’ Miles Harrison will also join the broadcast pre-match from Tokyo Stadium.

Click here to see quotes from Fareed, Corbisiero, Hightower, Lyle and Sky Sports’ Rupert Cox previewing the 2019 World Cup. Corbisiero’s The Scrumdown podcast relaunched today, with a new episode dropping weekly discussing all things rugby. In the first episode, Corbisiero previews the Rugby World Cup.

NBCSN will televise three matches throughout the tournament’s opening weekend:

    • Friday, September 20 at 6:30 a.m. ET: Japan v. Russia
    • Saturday, September 21 at 12:30 a.m. ET: Australia v. Fiji
    • Sunday, September 22 at 6:00 a.m. ET: England v. Tonga

 

In addition, NBC Sports Gold, which will livestream all 48 tournament matches – including 22 matches exclusively to the subscribers of the direct-to-consumer package – from Japan commercial-free and on-demand, will present four matches live exclusively this weekend:

    • Saturday, September 21 at 3:00 a.m. ET: France v. Argentina
    • Saturday, September 21 at 5:30 a.m. ET: New Zealand v. South Africa
    • Sunday, September 22 at 1:00 a.m. ET: Italy v. Namibia
    • Sunday, September 22 at 3:30 a.m. ET: Ireland v. Scotland

 

The Story of Rugby, a stunning six-part documentary exploring the cultural history and impact of rugby around the world – from its origins through to the present day – premieres across NBC Sports platforms beginning this weekend. The series, consisting of six one-hour episodes, premieres on NBCSN this Sunday, Sept. 22, with the first two episodes beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET. Episodes three, four and five will air consecutively on Monday, Sept. 23, starting at noon ET. The sixth episode will premiere on Monday, Sept. 24, at midnight ET. All six episodes will be available commercial-free through the NBC Sports Gold Rugby World Cup Pass.

Over the course of the six-week tournament, NBC Sports will present more than 250 hours of Rugby World Cup 2019 matches, original programming and additional Rugby World Cup content, comprising the most comprehensive U.S. coverage of the Rugby World Cup ever.

Twenty-six of the tournament’s 48 matches will be shown live on NBCSN, and streamed via authentication on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. Some games will also be shown on delay on NBC.

The pool play round consists of 40 matches – divided amongst four pools consisting of five nations each – that run through Sunday, Oct. 13.

The quarterfinals will be held on Saturday, Oct. 19, and Sunday, Oct. 20, while the semifinals will be played on the following weekend of Saturday, Oct. 26, and Sunday, Oct. 27.

The Rugby World Cup Final will be held on Saturday, Nov. 2, from International Stadium Yokohama. Both semifinal matches and the World Cup Final will be available live on NBC Sports Gold and re-aired on NBC. NBCSN will also present live coverage of the 2019 Final.

NBC Sports Gold provides rugby fans with unprecedented access to Rugby World Cup 2019 with multiple direct-to-consumer live streaming passes, which include commercial-free coverage, live and on-demand, on desktop, mobile, tablet and connected TV devices.

Following are the NBC Sports Gold Rugby World Cup 2019 options available for purchase:

    • Rugby World Cup Pass
      • Available for $199.99 for the entire tournament ($4.15 per game)
      • Includes all 48 matches live, commercial-free and on-demand
        • 22 exclusive matches to be shown only on NBC Sports Gold
      • Features exclusive original programming, daily pre- and post-day shows, extended match highlights and more
    • “Rugby World Cup Single Match Pass”
      • Available for $29.99 for one pool play match
    • “All-Access Premium Rugby Pass”
      • Available for $229.99
      • Includes all offerings from “Rugby Pass” and “Rugby World Cup Pass”
      • “Rugby Pass” consists of all matches from the Premiership Rugby League, Six Nations Championship, Heineken Champions Cup and knockout phase matches of the European Rugby Cup Challenge

 

Rugby World Cup 2019 offerings are available to U.S. commercial establishments through the NBC Sports Pub Pass – a new customizable direct-to-consumer platform developed specifically for the retail pub/restaurant market in the U.S. Through the Rugby World Cup Pub Pass, all 48 tournament matches will be available live, commercial-free and on-demand.

 

ABOUT NBC SPORTS GOLD

NBC Sports Gold is NBC Sports’ direct-to-consumer live streaming product that provides sports fans with access to exclusive premium sports events and content, live and on-demand, at an affordable price. Launched in 2016 with a single cycling product, NBC Sports Gold currently offers 17 individual sports “passes” – twelve domestic (PGA TOUR LIVE, Premier League, Premier League Match Day, INDYCAR, Cycling, Track & Field, Premier Lacrosse League, Speed Skating, Rugby, Rugby World Cup, Supercross, and Snow, consisting of seven Olympic winter sports); two regional (Blazers and Philly); one combination (Supercross and Pro Motocross), two domestic and international (Figure Skating and Pro Motocross); and one international-only (Notre Dame Football). Find NBC Sports Gold in the NBC Sports app available on Apple iOS & tvOS, Android, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Chromecast and NBCSportsGold.com, and also on Xfinity X1 and Xfinity Flex.

-2019 RUGBY WORLD CUP-