STARZPLAY today announced that it has secured the exclusive MENA broadcast rights for Rugby World Cup 2023 in France (8 September – 28 October). The homegrown streaming service, which is one of the leading video-on-demand subscription (SVOD) services in the region, will stream all 48 matches live and exclusive from France to rugby fans across MENA.
STARZPLAY launched its sports service last August and has already delivered an impressive line-up of world class sport including Serie A, Coppa Italia, World Championship boxing, UFC, ICC events, NBA League Pass and now Rugby World Cup 2023, the third biggest sporting event in the world.
The 10th edition of the tournament is set to be the most popular in its history and STARZPLAY promises to deliver the most comprehensive and fan friendly coverage the region has seen. On 1st September STARZPLAY will launch STARZPLAY Sports Rugby World Cup, a streaming pop-up channel dedicated to the tournament showcasing all 48 live matches, previews, highlights, news, stories from across the tournament as well as classic matches. All this content and more will also be available on-demand on STARZPLAY’s award winning SVOD service, super serving fans who can watch on any device.
Andy Warkman, Head of Sport, STARZPLAY said “We are thrilled to be streaming Rugby World Cup 2023 exclusively across MENA. This deal further cements our commitment to bring world class sport to STARZPLAY. We are looking forward to delivering our extensive Rugby World Cup coverage to fans and working with World Rugby to grow the sport in the region.”
Alan Gilpin, World Rugby CEO said: “We are delighted to partner with STARZPLAY to showcase Rugby World Cup 2023 in a rapidly-growing rugby market. This collaboration reflects our shared vision of expanding the reach and popularity of rugby in the region, by making the sport more relevant and more accessible to more people. With STARZPLAY's commitment to delivering comprehensive and fan-friendly coverage of rugby’s showcase event, we are confident that France 2023 will be the most memorable and accessible for rugby enthusiasts across MENA.”
STARZPLAY’s live coverage kicks off on Friday, September 8th with the opening ceremony at 10pm UAE, followed by France v New Zealand and continues for 7 weeks until the final in Paris on Saturday 28th October.
ENDS
About STARZPLAY:
Ranked consistently among the region’s top three subscription video on demand services, STARZPLAY Arabia (www.starzplay.com) streams an extensive variety of premium content covering Hollywood movies, TV shows, documentaries and same-time-as-the-US series – plus live sports, dedicated kids’ entertainment and Arabic content – to 19 countries across MENA and Pakistan.
STARZPLAY has thousands of prime titles including exclusive STARZPLAY Arabia original content such as Kaboos, Say Yes to the Dress Arabia, Baghdad Central, STARZ Original content such as Power, Outlander, Spartacus and The White Queen as well as a range of content with add-ons such as AD Sports, Premier Sports (Rugby), NBA League Pass and STARZPLAY Sports, the dedicated sports package covering football (Italian Serie A and Dutch Eredivisie leagues), wrestling (All Elite Wrestling), cricket, UFC Arabia, boxing, basketball and more.
STARZPLAY Arabia has secured tie ups with a host of leading, global studios, including Lionsgate, MGM, Warner Bros, Universal, Discovery and Sony Studios along with regional producers such as UMS, Eagle Films and Falcon. Until 2022, STARZ (www.starz.com), a Lionsgate company (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B) was the lead investor along with media and technology investment firms including SEQ Investors and Delta Partners. In early 2021, STARZPLAY Arabia secured its first independent financing in the region of US$25 million (approx. AED 92 million) from Abu Dhabi based Ruya Partners. In 2022, E-Vision, from e& and ADQ, an Abu Dhabi-based investment and holding company acquired a majority equity stake of circa 57% in the company.
Reaching over 2.9 million subscribers, STARZPLAY Arabia allows subscribers to watch its full HD and 4K content via most internet-enabled devices, smart TVs and game consoles, and is widely available on regional IPTV services. Its iOS and Android apps – installed on over three million devices – also allow downloads for offline playback.
Social Tags: Instagram @starzplayarabia, Facebook @starzplay, Twitter @STARZPlayArabia , TikTok @starzplayarabia TikTok, YouTube @STARZPLAY-SVOD YouTube
For media enquiries:
Srishti Soni | Janine Alamir
ASDA’A BCW
srishti.soni@bcw-global.com | janine.alamir@bcw-global.com
About Rugby World Cup 2023
Rugby World Cup 2023 will take place in France from 8 September-28 October with matches played in nine venues across 10 host cities. The tournament will be the 10th men’s Rugby World Cup and the second to be hosted by France after a memorable event in 2007.
RWC 2023 will take place in a year when the sport celebrates 200 years since Rugby School pupil William Webb Ellis was credited with inventing the game of rugby football by showing “a fine disregard for the rules” in catching the ball and running with it in 1823.
RWC 2023 will set new standards in social responsibility, inclusion and sustainability for a major rugby event, targeting four key pillars for the tournament’s legacy: acting for sustainability and circular economy, supporting education, training and employment, respecting and protecting the environment and promoting inclusivity by being a champion for gender equality.
The showpiece event in men’s 15s, Rugby World Cup 2023 will feature 20 teams with 48 matches played across 51 days.
