BBC Sport has had to stand down an outside broadcast unit and two former England international pundits after Premiership Rugby backtracked on an offer to allow them to broadcast the Premiership final between Exeter and Wasps a week on Saturday, according to the Guardian.
The BBC was initially approached by Premiership Rugby chief executive Darren Childs, who had been preparing to show the game live to a terrestrial audience, only for the “offer” to be withdrawn, the newspaper reported.
Members of the BBC’s planned outside broadcast team were only made aware of the situation when Premiership Rugby issued details of its coverage plans to the media via email last Friday.
A Premiership Rugby spokesman insisted talks over potential live terrestrial coverage had merely been “exploratory” and “routine”.
“BT Sport are an open and flexible partner but it didn’t get to the point of us giving BT Sport a formal proposal,” he said.
BT Sport holds primary broadcasting rights to the tournament, but there had been suggestions that the final could be shown on terrestrial television because, as in football, spectators are not currently allowed into grounds.
BT Sport’s current £40m-a-year deal is due to expire at the end of 2020/21 and there is speculation that the broadcasting rights could be switched to a dedicated rugby channel.
