BBC slammed as they lose another free-to-air event through TV rights controversy

The BBC has been hit with a wealth of criticism as of late for cutting their coverage of a number of live events

The BBC has lost the Rugby World Cup (Image: Mike Kemp, In Pictures via Getty Images)

Troy Grant has lambasted the BBC for not offering enough money to televise the Rugby League World Cup this year. The tournament is underway in Australia at the moment, although fans can only tune in with a valid Premier Sports subscription. The BBC broadcast all 61 games across the men's, women's and wheelchair tournaments back in 2021, but are claimed to have made a 'disappointing' offer to broadcast the event in 2026.

Speaking to the i, International Rugby League chair, Grant, said: "We're not a charity. Revenue into the game has to come from somewhere.

"And the reality is that in the IRL, we operate more like a not-for-profit organisation. So we're not there to make money for ourselves.

"We're a low-cost operation and the money we raise, we reinvest back into the participation of the game. So we have to make money.

Troy Grant has criticised the BBC (Image: Getty)

"There were decisions made back for the 2021 World Cup and the broadcast was given away for a dollar. So the BBC got it for a dollar and then the organisers paid for production.

"From a commercial point of view, that's nuts. People say to me, 'Look, the broadcast numbers, the viewership for the 2021 World Cup was enormous,' and it was.

"They say, 'Wasn't it successful?' Yes, it was. Absolutely. And I'm really delighted with the numbers. I'm really grateful, but the strategy didn't translate into growth.

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The Rugby League World Cup is being shown on Premier Sports (Image: Getty)

"That has not translated to better uptake overall on the Super League, the premier level of the game in England. I'm not sure quality-wise Super League has got much better in the last four years, given the size of the growth and the eyeballs.

"It just hasn't translated. And that was a big commercial decision that really whacked the organisers hard. As the IRL, we reduced our rights fee.

"We were prepared to take less because of the realities of Covid and the impacts and the postponement and all that. As I said, we're not there to make money for our own good, just there to reinvest.

"So that was the reason and the rationale now was that everyone was offered the 2026 rights; the BBC were not out of the question. Premier Sports came in with a decent offer that I believe is affordable.

"I think it's more a habitual thing where people aren't used to paying for sport, but that's the new world. We all pay for streaming and for £19 to get the amount of content and the quality of the content coming out of the World Cup is not a big price to pay.

"I understand times are tough for a lot of people as well. I get all that sort of stuff, but I think £19 was still a reasonable figure.

"We're really happy with Premier Sports, disappointed that the BBC didn't stump up, but that's a matter for them and for them to explain to their viewers as well."

In response to Grant's claims, a BBC spokesperson said: "We must make difficult choices to deliver the savings required while continuing to serve audiences as effectively as possible."

Meanwhile, Jon Trickett MP has called on the government to make matches at the Rugby League World Cup free-to-air and protected for the foreseeable future. He told City AM: "The problem rugby league has is that the feed stock has been cut off, that's ordinary kids watching sport on TV living in poorer families.

"A lot of the rugby league clubs come from deprived communities – they are not able to pay for pay-for-view TV and they're not able to see their heroes."

He added: "The [government] has the power to list sporting events and it's tragic that the World Cup is not seen on terrestrial television."

It comes as the BBC has lost the right to broadcast a number of sporting events in 2026, including the Boat Race and the Commonwealth Games, with Channel 4 and TNT Sports respectively showing the events.