Free TV Australia is proud to announce an agreement for PacificAus TV to deliver National Rugby League (NRL) matches to its Pacific partner broadcasters, expanding the availability of live and free-to-air coverage of Australia’s most popular football competition to communities across the region.
PacificAus TV currently shares the best of Australian television with 18 free-to-air broadcasters in 12 nations across 8 time zones and this agreement brings a powerful new dimension to that reach – audiences in Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, Tonga, Cook Islands, Niue and Timor-Leste will have access to two live NRL matches and one delayed match each week through their local free-to-air broadcasters. Fiji and Papua New Guinea have pre-existing broadcast arrangements in place.
Players of Pasifika heritage comprise 52 per cent of all NRL talent, and 29 per cent have at least one parent born in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga or other Pacific islands. The audiences who have long shaped the game can now watch it on their own screens, through their own local broadcasters, for free.
“Free TV is very proud to deliver the PacificAus TV initiative as a key component of Australia’s Indo-Pacific Broadcasting Strategy, and this agreement for the NRL is a perfect expression of what the initiative is for. 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 – ensuring communities from the Cook Islands and Niue to Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and beyond can enjoy this premium programming at no cost. We look forward to deepening cultural and community ties with our Pacific partners through the shared language of rugby league.”
— Bridget Fair, CEO, Free TV Australia
“In the recent NRL Annual Report 2025, Rugby League again confirmed its position as the biggest sport in Australia and the Pacific — with record audiences, record attendance, and record participation. 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.”
— Shane Wood, Director, PacificAus TV
ENDS
Download a copy of the pdf here