ITV drops in-play scrum adverts for July rugby Tests

ITV will pause its in-play, in-picture scrum adverts during July’s Nations Championship matches. The 20-second commercial windows are currently expected to come back for the November Tests and next year’s Six Nations.

The decision appears tied to ITV’s wider summer advertising calendar, with the expanded 48-team football World Cup taking up major broadcast attention and commercial spend. The scrum adverts had appeared during this year’s Six Nations, with brands including Samsung and Virgin Atlantic among those taking slots.

The format divided opinion because it changed the live viewing experience: stadium sound was reduced, the screen was split, and an advert appeared while the match coverage continued. Six Nations chief executive Tom Harrison has acknowledged that UK audiences may find this kind of in-play advertising harder to accept than viewers in markets where it is more familiar.

The Nations Championship brings together the Six Nations sides — England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, Italy — with South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Fiji and Japan. ITV’s broader rugby commitment remains significant, including rights to every match in the 2026 and 2028 editions of the competition.