• Women’s Rugby World Cup in England 2025 – one year to go
• The biggest ever Women’s Rugby World Cup will be broadcast live, free-to-air and digitally in the UK.
• As the final qualifier of the tournament, WXV is also part of the exclusive UK rights deal.
• The deal is an expression of the common goal of increasing the reach of the tournament and its stars

BBC Sport will broadcast live coverage of the tournament across linear channels, with every match also available live on BBC iPlayer and the Sport website and app. This will provide unprecedented coverage of the eight-city, nationwide festival of women’s rugby and will expose rugby’s biggest stars to more people in the UK than ever before.

Live audio commentary will be broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra. Fans can listen to 5 Live coverage on BBC Sounds, DAB radio and the BBC Sport website. The exclusive coverage deal means there will also be content on BBC Scotland, BBC Wales and BBC Northern Ireland.

Host England is currently number one in the world rankings and has already qualified for the qualification. The “Red Roses fever” threatens to sweep over the host country.

Nine other teams have already qualified, with the remaining six places securing them a ticket to the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, which will be held at WXV later this year.

As part of a groundbreaking agreement for women’s rugby, the BBC and World Rugby can also confirm that WXV will also be available on BBC iPlayer, the UK’s sports website and app, creating a slate of content leading up to next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Alan Gilpin, CEO of World Rugby, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with BBC Sport for the Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 and WXV. The BBC is a huge advocate for women’s rugby and women’s sport in general and with its cross-platform, diverse programming approach and regional reach, we look forward to making history together – the biggest, most accessible and record-breaking celebration of women’s rugby ever.”

BBC Director of Sport Alex Kay-Jelski added: “Next summer will be a big moment for women’s sport and following coverage on WXV and the Women’s Six Nations Championship on the BBC, we are proud to bring audiences exclusive coverage of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup in England. Big sporting moments have a unique ability to bring people together and this is even more true when international competitions are taking place on home soil. And we can’t wait.”

The Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 begins on 22 August, with hosts England opening the competition at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. The 10th edition of the tournament will be played at eight venues across the country, with the final taking place at London’s iconic Twickenham Stadium on 27 September 2025. World Rugby today announced kick-off times for the opening match and the final two matches of the tournament. Tickets will be on sale from 24 September at 10:00 BST (GMT+1) until 8 October at 10:00 BST.

BBC Sport’s rights portfolio also includes UEFA Women’s EURO 2025, Women’s Super League, Olympic Games, FA Cup, Wimbledon Championships, Six Nations, Premier League and UEFA Champions League. The BBC is a long-standing audio partner of the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups.