The upcoming South American A Championship is to be broadcast on Free-to-air television in Brazil. Confirmation has been made by Brazilian network Rede TV that Brazil’s matches against Uruguay and Chile on April 23 and 30 will be televised, enabling a greatly expanded audience to see test match rugby.
It marks the first time since the early 1980’s that rugby will have been shown free-to-ar in the country. Since Rugby World Cup 2007 the sport has experienced booming popularity both in terms of player numbers and regular viewers.
Subscription channels including ESPN, Sportv, Band Sports and TV5 Monde have all broadcast live rugby albeit to a paying audience. Last year’s Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada saw rugby broadcast by Record News and now Rede TV is to join in.