Discovery acquire a stake in RugbyPass

April 26, 2016

Discovery Communications have announced an agreement to acquire a minority stake in RugbyPass – a digital content platform that reaches passionate rugby fans across 23 Asian markets with the world’s best competitions – live or on demand – from any device.

To further boost the RugbyPass offering to fans, select content from Discovery-owned Setanta Sports Asia will be immediately available to all RugbyPass subscribers.

Arthur Bastings, President and Managing Director of Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific said: “In partnership with CSM, our investment in RugbyPass will provide sports fans with greater access to the world’s best rugby competitions, making content that they love available on more screens, when and wherever they choose to watch it.” 

Tim Martin, CEO at CSM, said, “RugbyPass is a successful product with an increasingly strong and loyal following, and now with Discovery’s added resources and expertise, we are excited to not only expand the sports content available on the site through Setanta but also invest in further growth.”

 

The launch of RugbyPass in Asia complements a boom time for the game, including World Rugby’s deal with Chinese broadcaster Alibaba, the return of Singapore to the World Rugby Sevens circuit and the inclusion of Japan’s Sunwolves in this year’s Super Rugby competition.