Rugby league fans across the Pacific are about to see a lot more NRL on their screens, with a new broadcast agreement set to deliver weekly matches to communities across the region through their local free to air broadcasters.
PacificAus TV, a Free TV Australia initiative delivering Australian content to Pacific broadcasters, will begin distributing weekly National Rugby League matches across the region, expanding free to air access to Australia’s most popular football competition.
The agreement with Free TV Australia will see PacificAus TV distribute two live NRL matches and one delayed match each week to broadcasters in Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, Tonga, Cook Islands, Niue and Timor Leste.
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Fiji and Papua New Guinea already have existing broadcast arrangements in place, with PNG also set to join the NRL competition from 2028.
PacificAus TV currently shares Australian television programming with 18 free to air broadcasters across 12 nations and eight time zones, with the addition of rugby league adding a major sporting pillar to the initiative.
Free TV Australia CEO Bridget Fair said the agreement highlights the cultural connection rugby league already holds across the Pacific.
“Rugby League is deeply woven into the fabric of Pacific life, and PacificAus TV is uniquely placed to deliver world class sport through trusted local channels.”
Director of PacificAus TV Shane Wood said the deal ensures audiences across the region can watch the sport through their own local broadcasters without a paywall.
“We are proud that fans across the Pacific can now watch the world’s best rugby league live, for free, through their own local broadcasters.”
More than half of all NRL players have Pasifika heritage, with many tracing family roots to nations across the Pacific where rugby league already enjoys strong community support.
The service will celebrate its sixth anniversary in May, having first launched in late May 2020 to deliver Australian television content to broadcasters across the Pacific.
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The arrangement comes as the 2026 NRL season is already underway, having kicked off earlier this month with the opening round staged in Las Vegas.
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