BBC Announces Women’s World Cup Broadcast Deal With World Rugby

With exactly one year to go until England kick off the opening match of the tournament, BBC Sport has announced an exclusive UK rights deal with World Rugby for live coverage of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup in England.

BBC Sport will broadcast coverage of the Women’s Rugby World Cup across linear channels, with every match also available to watch live on the BBC iPlayer and the Sport website and app.

Live audio commentary will be broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra. Fans will be able to listen to 5 Live coverage on BBC Sounds, DAB radio and the BBC Sport website.

The exclusive coverage deal means there will also be content across BBC Northern Ireland, BBC Scotland, and BBC Wales.

Led by co-captains Edel McMahon and Sam Monaghan, the Ireland Women qualified for next year’s Rugby World Cup after securing a third place finish in the 2024 Guinness Women’s Six Nations.

Ireland return to Kingspan Stadium to play Australia on Saturday, September 14 (kick-off 2.30pm) to kick off Irish Rugby’s 150th Anniversary celebrations. Tickets are available to buy here.

A large number of Ireland internationals are currently playing in the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship, with Ulster’s matches being shown on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website.

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Meanwhile, the BBC and World Rugby have also confirmed that the upcoming WXV competition will be available to watch on the BBC.

Gearing up for their WXV1 debut, Ireland, who were last season’s WXV3 winners, will play New Zealand, hosts Canada, and the USA, with the Black Ferns game taking place at Vancouver’s BC Place on Sunday, September 29 (kick-off 7pm local time/3am Irish time).

WXV1 tickets are on sale now. All three levels of WXV will be available to watch globally either on RugbyPass TV or your local broadcaster. Further broadcast details will be available on the WXV website.

Alex Kay-Jelski, Director of BBC Sport, commented: “Next summer is set to be a huge moment for Women’s sport, and following coverage of WXV and the Women’s Six Nations on the BBC, we’re proud to bring audiences exclusive coverage of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.

“Big sporting moments have a unique ability to unify bringing people together, and never more so when international competitions play out on home soil. And we cannot wait.”

World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin added: “We are delighted to be partnering with BBC Sport for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 and WXV.

“The BBC is a massive champion of Women’s rugby, and Women’s sport more broadly, and with their multi-platform, diverse programming approach and regional reach, we look forward to making history together – the biggest, most accessible and record-breaking celebration of Women’s rugby ever.”

The 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup will start on Friday, August 22, with hosts England kicking off the competition at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light. Click here for World Cup ticket information.

The tournament’s 10th edition will be hosted across eight nationwide locations, culminating in the final at the iconic Twickenham Stadium in London on Saturday, September 27, 2025.