Rugby fans disappointed by in-game adverts during ITV's Six Nations coverage

Kenneth Fox

Rugby fans took to social media on Thursday night to voice their disappointment over in-game adverts during ITV's coverage of France vs Ireland.

During the first half of the game, when both teams were setting up for a scrum, an advert for Samsung came on the right-hand side of the screen with the game still on the left.

While it is commonplace in US sports to see split-screen adverts, it is a relatively new concept for European sports coverage.

ITV showing split screen adverts during tonight's Six Nations rugby game. pic.twitter.com/fDPAMMQMzj

— Jono Read (@jonoread) February 5, 2026

People took to X to voice their disappointment with the in-game advertisements. One user said, "I’m sorry, ITV, I’m not quite sure what I just saw there, but it looked like you were trying to play an advert side by side with a live sporting event. Please don’t ever do that again."

Another likened it to US sport coverage and said: "If I wanted to live in America, I would move there."

Before the start of the Six Nations, ITV announced it would broadcast in-game adverts during the Men's Six Nations in a UK media first.

They said the new advertising format would debut at the opening match on Thursday, when defending champions France would face 2024 winners Ireland in Paris.

ITV said advertisements will be shown twice during each match, in a split screen.

Each ad will last 20 seconds and will fill the right-hand side of the screen while live pictures from the match will continue to play on the left.

They said there will be one in each half of the match, and they will play out when there is a break in play, just before a scrum. Samsung and Virgin Atlantic are the first brands to trial the new format.

It comes as ITV and the BBC agreed a four-year deal to keep the tournament on free-to-air TV earlier this year, with ITV reportedly paying over two-thirds of the £63 million (€72 million) a year deal.

When the deal was agreed, Tom Harrison, the chief executive of Six Nations Rugby, said: “The commercial environment in which rugby is operating is extremely challenging, and the battle for audience attention has never been greater, but the Six Nations stands alongside the very greatest occasions in world sport, which is reflected by these partnerships.”