In a breakthrough move, Mai TV is delighted to announce that it has acquired selected Live free-to-air rights for prime time Super Rugby Pacific matches every Saturday evening at 7.05 pm thanks to securing a deal with Digicel Fiji and Sky Pacific.
The station will be showing one LIVE Super Rugby Pacific match every weekend for 15 rounds over four months featuring some of the big franchise teams in the world, including the Crusaders, Chiefs, Brumbies, and Waratahs.
This is the first time selected Super Rugby matches will be aired Live on Mai TV on the Walesi platform.
“Mai TV is massively excited to show the top rugby clubs in the world, the best players, the most skillful backs, the most powerful forwards, take on each other every Saturday evening – Live on our channel,” says Mai TV Director Stanley Simpson.
“Securing the Super Rugby Pacific rights for free-to-air after a competitive bidding process is a milestone for Mai TV after years of rebuilding and despite the economic challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“COVID-19 has been tough on the broadcasting industry but we sounded out the market, bit the bullet, and decided to take this exciting leap of faith to bring world-class rugby action for free to Fijian homes and community halls.”
Mai TV also thanks rights partners Digicel Fiji and Sky Pacific for their confidence in Mai TV.
“We worked well with Digicel Fiji and Sky Pacific team last year to deliver the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games to Fiji, and we thank them again for the opportunity to deliver selected Live Super Rugby Pacific games this year on free to air TV,” Simpson said.
Digicel Fiji CEO, Farid Mohammed, said; “The Fijian passion for rugby is one of the principal reasons why the Digicel Fiji and Sky Pacific team looked at more options to share the premium rugby content with free to air stations and Mai TV have recently proven to be good partners to work with.”
“Besides being able to watch all matches on Sky Pacific, we do believe that this partnership will provide another boost for our rugby fans as Saturday night feature game from Super Rugby Pacific will now also be aired Live on Mai TV.”
Mai TV’s Live telecast will begin with Round One on Saturday 19th February at 6:05 pm. Super Rugby fans will get to watch the Crusaders take on the Hurricanes at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Mai TV will air 1 Live game every Saturday evening and 1 replay mid-week over the 15-week period. Mai TV can be viewed on Channel 4 of the Walesi digital platform.