Putting Premiership rugby on free to air TV is massive, says Harlequins wing Cadan Murley

The move to put Gallagher Premiership rugby on ITV was “massive” for the game as a whole, said Harlequins wing Cadan Murley on The Rugby Paper Podcast.

“Putting Gallagher Premiership games on free to air television is massive,” said Murley.

In January, The Rugby Paper broke the news that ITV and the Premiership had reached a deal to showcase seven live games per season, the showcase Premiership final and a weekly highlights show.

The move to free to air rugby gives the game the opportunity to capture new audiences, particularly in the younger generations. A peak audience of 750,000 people on ITV and an additional 213,000 people on BT viewed the Sale Sharks v Leicester Tigers on 30th January 2022.

ITV's first league game set a new record as the biggest TV audience for a league game in English history.

SALFORD, ENGLAND – JANUARY 30: Tom Roebuck of Sale Sharks celebrates on the way to scoring their fifth try during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Sale Sharks and Leicester Tigers at AJ Bell Stadium on January 30, 2022 in Salford, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images for Sale Sharks)

Current players understand the importance of inspiring new generations into the game of rugby. In the digital age, sports are no longer battling other sports for media attention, they're battling for their games future survival at both the participation and professional levels.

Cadan Murley said: “The amount of people who will tune into rugby will be like ‘this is a cool sport'. (As players) we like to be a good advert for the game.

“The way Quins play – we still want to chuck the ball around, we want to play with smiles on our faces. We want to teach young kids the Harlequins way.”

2HN1A87 HarlequinsO Cadan Murley runs with the ball during the Gallagher Premiership match at the StoneX Stadium, London. Picture date: Sunday February 13, 2022.

Superstars and icons play a huge role in getting younger generations into the game.

There's a generation of rugby fans in their mid to late twenties who fell in love with the game of rugby with a Jonny Wilkinson drop goal in 2003.

Clubs play an important role in showcasing rugby to the people in their surrounding areas who have not been exposed to the game.

“There are (Harlequin) boys going off to camps around Surrey or Sussex trying to build the game in that way. The more stars they see, the more they can relate to it,” said Murley.

“The more they interact (with kids) then hopefully they'll talk to their friends about it and want to be rugby players when they are older – not football or cricket players which have been big in recent years.”

Cadan Murley was talking on The Rugby Paper Podcast where he gave a fascinating insight into the relationship between the media and professional players, as well as looking into the importance of mental health for professional athletes.

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