NBC Sports Network to Air England’s Premier League Rugby Matches

NBC Sports Group is the U.S. television home for England’s Aviva Premiership Rugby, with the first of more than 70 elite-level rugby matches airing Sept. 3 on NBCSN. NBCSN’s coverage starts with defending league champion Saracens facing the Worcester Warriors at Twickenham Stadium in London at 9:30 a.m. ET.

On Sept. 4, NBCSN airs Wasps versus Exeter Chiefs starting at 10:30 ET.

Twelve teams comprise the Aviva Premiership, including Bath, Northampton Saints and Newcastle Falcons. Aviva is an insurance company and title sponsor of the league. Matches, featuring 15-a-side rugby, take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app will provide live streaming of additional matches. On Sept. 2 at 2:45 p.m. ET, NBC Sports will stream Gloucester versus the Leicester Tigers; on Sept. 3, it’s Harlequins versus Bristol at 11:30 ET.

Each weekend, NBC Sports Group will present what it calls the most compelling Premiership matches on the schedule. The season culminates with the league final May 27.

NBC Sports’ Leigh Diffey will be at the studio, joined by analyst Alex Corbisiero.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.