INSIGHT

The Rugby World Cup on Czech TV – a great experience again!

24th January 2024
The Czech Republic is not a typical rugby country. But in the autumn of 2023, it became one for two months. Czech Television played a significant role in this, broadcasting all 48 matches of the World Cup for the first time in its history.
A spider cam in focus, against a blurred background of a rugby pitch.
A spider cam TV or spidercam camera X fly 3D cablecam during the Rugby World Cup final South Africa VS New Zealand at Stade de France in Paris, France on October 28, 2023. Credit: Victor Velter / Shutterstock.com
By David Kozohorský, Editor of ČT Sport

Rugby is nothing of particular interest to Czech audiences, as opposed to those in countries where rugby is a traditional sport, or even part of the national culture and identity, such as in New Zealand or South Africa. In the Czech Republic, it does appear on private television programming, but without the potential to reach an audience wider than the traditional rugby bubble. But this was not the first tournament that the public television station has broadcast. This year’s edition was its fifth in a row, which is ironic for several reasons.

Rugby in the Czech Republic

Rugby has almost a century-long tradition in our territory, but it has never been included in the main sports. The reasons are various. The rules are not familiar to domestic fans, they are complicated for them. Unlike many other sports the goal is not to get an object into the goal or over the net.

Read more: Czech Television’s services for children on Russia-Ukraine war

It also faces a number of prejudices related to the physicality, which Czech audiences experience mainly through ice hockey players, but who are hidden in pads and helmets. Moreover, in the twentieth century rugby did not fit the ideological profile of Czechoslovak socialist sport.

It is clear from the outputs from within the rugby community that the availability of the World Cup on a public platform, i.e. “free to air”, is helping the growth [of the sport] greatly.

It is only in recent years that work has started on at least semi-professionalisation, i.e. to allow players to train and compete without regard to their livelihood. At a time of huge global rugby development, which goes hand in hand with the necessary investment in infrastructure and human capital, the men are struggling to at least stay in the middle tier of European competition. They are currently playing in the Trophy division of the European Championship and are hovering around 15th place. It is not bad, but conditions still virtually rule out participation in the World Championships. The Czech women’s rugby team are doing good for the name of Czech rugby, as they are in the Rugby Sevens game for qualification to the Olympics in Paris 2024.

David Kozohorský and Marek Švíř standing in the gantry at the State de France.
David Kozohorský with co-commentator, Marek Švíř at the Stade de France in Paris. Credit: David Kozohorský.
Rugby and Czech Television

In the introduction, I spoke of a paradox – that the main focus of the sports station CT Sport (Czech Television Sport) is to cover the performances of Czech athletes. Although we are a medium-sized country, our athletes are successful in a large number of disciplines. Therefore, we have no shortage of content for our broadcasts.

The Rugby World Cup project does not fit into this concept. We first broadcast a few matches in 2007. That was the end of the most successful era of rugby in our history. For several years the Czech national team played in the top division of the European Championships against Georgia, Romania, Portugal, Spain or Russia and managed to compete. A new specialised sports programme within Czech Television, “CT Sport”, was also being rolled out, so the conditions were perfect for finding attractive content. And rugby was ideal. When the chance to broadcast the World Cup came up, there was no waiting! Since 2011, the number of matches has been around thirty. In 2023, we offered viewers all 48, watched by almost 2.5 million viewers. The final was the most watched rugby broadcast in our history. The rating was 2,9% (284 000) and the share 700 000 TV viewers. These statistics are at a similar level to 2015, when the tournament was played in England and matches were broadcast at similar times.

Four years ago, when the World Cup was held in Japan, the matches were played early in the morning in the Czech Republic, but there were still over 200,000 spectators watching the final. The World Cup has become a relevant part of the portfolio of sporting events of extreme interest to Czech fans. This is proof that it was no mistake to attend to them.

Subscribe toour newsletter

Keep updated with the latest public
media news from around the world

Public Media Alliance
Sign Up

I will not exaggerate when I say that I am grateful to Czech Television for the fact that I was able to attend the bronze medal matches and the finals four times directly from the stadium: in 2007 in Paris, 2015 in London, 2019 in Tokyo and most recently in Paris. These are highlights of my professional career and also great experiences for me as a big sports fan. I realised that it is a privilege when the Czech Television was praised by the accreditation centre staff for deciding to be represented directly in the World Cup venue, despite operating in a rugby-insignificant country.

We give quite a lot of coverage to our national team and the league, but the interest is nowhere near that of the World Cup. It is still new to Czech fans and in many ways, they are not used to it. While many still do not understand the details of the rules, they are excited by the attributes that go with rugby. In particular, values such as respect, consistency and fairness, the types of behaviour that are not always on a pedestal in the current public space. They also enjoy the communication between referees and players and the use of video referees.

I will not exaggerate when I say that I am grateful to Czech Television for the fact that I was able to attend the bronze medal matches and the finals four times … These are highlights of my professional career and also great experiences for me as a big sports fan.

A Czech TV van, in Prague. Credit: Harry Lock

The Czech Rugby Union is aware of the benefits that broadcasting World Cup matches has for their sport. It has also used them for its own promotion, which was helped by the World Cup being held in the country in the same time zone. It opened a rugby park in Prague where matches could be watched on a large screen. It also organised a series of rugby workshops. In cooperation with Czech Television, it promoted individual clubs and showed viewers the basic rules.

The World Cup has contributed significantly to the popularisation of rugby in the Czech Republic. Every four years, clubs have seen an increased interest in giving rugby a try. In a positive way, the tournament is influencing parents who are beginning to accept the specifics of rugby, especially to stop worrying about the physicality.

Rugby has never been played by as many children as it is now. As is well known, it is a sufficient youth base that is the main sustainable source of club performance. The trend is very important. In the last ten years the number of players has almost doubled from 2.5 thousand to 4.5 thousand registered athletes.

There is no accurate research, but it is clear from the outputs from within the rugby community that the availability of the World Cup on a public platform, i.e. “free to air”, is helping this growth greatly. I am therefore happy about this project and I am convinced that it makes sense to continue it when the opportunity arises again.

David Kozohorský, the Editor of ČT Sport. Credit: David Kozohorský.

About the author

David Kozohorský is the Editor of ČT Sport.

Our thanks to Mr. Kozohorský for providing this report.