Amazon makes Autumn Nations Cup rugby coverage free for Scottish and Welsh pubs
Autumn Nations Cup – fixtures in full
Round one13 November: Pool A: Ireland v Wales - 7pm
14 November: Pool B: Italy v Scotland - 12.45pm
14 November: Pool A: England v Georgia - 3pm
15 November: Pool B: France v Fiji - 3.15pm
Round two21 November: Pool B: Italy v Fiji - 12.45pm
21 November: Pool A: England v Ireland - 3pm
21 November: Pool A: Wales v Georgia - 5.15pm
22 November: Pool B: Scotland v France - 3pm
Round three28 November: Pool B: Scotland v Fiji - 1.45pm
28 November: Pool A: Wales v England - 4pm
28 November: Pool B: France v Italy - 8pm
29 November: Pool A: Ireland v Georgia - 2pm
Final weekend5 December: Georgia v TBC - 12noon
5 December: Ireland v TBC - 2.15pm
5 December: Wales v TBC - 4.45pm
6 December: England v TBC - 2pm
The tournament will see eight teams split into two pools – England, Ireland, Wales and Georgia in pool A, with France, Scotland, Italy and Fiji in pool B – with each team playing every other team in their group over three successive weekends from 13 November.
Final placings will then be decided by each team playing their equivalent in the pool stage standings – i.e., first place in pool A plays the winner of pool B, pool A runners up take on second place in pool B, etc.
The first round of fixtures gets underway at 7pm on 13 November with Ireland taking on Wales at the Aviva Stadium.
Though England’s pubs are subject to a month-long lockdown until 2 December, pubs in Wales were allowed to reopen on Monday 9 November after more than two weeks closed under a “firebreak” lockdown.
What’s more, a number of pubs remain open for business in Scotland where a five-tier system of Covid-19 restrictions is currently in place.
While Sky customers with an HD-capable set top box will be able to access these matches through their existing Sky Business subscription, non-Sky customers with a Sky HD-capable set top box and active Sky viewing card can also show these matches free of charge.
Licensed premises who need to order a new Sky viewing card can also do so for free.
The Morning Advertiser (MA) understands that should England’s lockdown end on 2 December as expected, this offer will be extended to its pubs if they be allowed to reopen in time for the final round of fixtures spanning 5 and 6 December.
Premier League fixtures
This news comes after it was announced that fans hoping to watch Crystal Palace and Everton build upon then perfect starts to the new Premier League season on 26 September would have to do so from their own homes after Amazon confirmed that its first game of the 2020/21 season would not be available in pubs.
In the latest Premier League rights auction – Amazon’s first foray into live football – the web giant picked up 20 exclusive Premier League fixtures while Sky Sports claimed 128 and BT Sport purchased rights to 52.
While Amazon has confirmed which fixtures from the forthcoming Premier League season will be exclusively broadcast via its Prime Video service under the original rights agreement – a midweek round spanning 15 and 16 December before a second on 28 December – the Premier League has not yet revealed any additional allocation beyond Crystal Palace v Everton.
During the 2019/20 campaign, BT Sport was appointed to market Amazon’s Premier League pass to commercial premises so they could show fixtures, with the three extra games allocated to Prime Video post-lockdown made available to pubs for free via the broadcaster.
Amazon Prime Video also holds rights to broadcast live ATP Tour tennis.
