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The Kings Arms, a pub in Abergavenny, has had to cancel bookings due to the cost of showing live rugby games this autumn. While Wales’ games are free to watch on S4C, all other games require a subscription to access English language commentary. Jon and Sacha Child, who run The Kings Arms, initially advertised that they would show all 21 games this month, but found that the commercial package subscription they needed cost just under £700 a month plus value-added tax with a minimum six-month contract, which made it unviable for their business. Without S4C, they would not have been able to show anything at all, since the subscriptions would have been too expensive.
The WRU has offered clubhouses access to live matches via a subscription code from TNT, which has signed a deal to put selected Wales’ games alongside the free-to-air broadcasts on S4C. However, many customers have criticized the need for subscriptions, stating that international rugby should be free to watch on terrestrial TV. Andy Davies, who supports pay-to-view, said that he had paid £30 for a subscription to TNT that covers 21 games, providing good value for money. Natalie Marchant Parry, meanwhile, said it was cheaper to pay for access rather than going to the pub for each game.
Sue Butler from S4C said that she was pleased that the games would be available to audiences for free, stating that Welsh rugby was too important to hide behind pay-to-view channels. The WRU has secured a deal with S4C to show all of the matches over the next two seasons
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