The Six Nations has indicated it is willing to consider selling TV rights to subscription broadcasters when the competition's Ireland and UK deal expires in 2017.
Games are currently broadcast free-to-air on RTÉ in Ireland and BBC in the UK.
Under Irish law, Six Nations games are not protected as "events of major importance" and there is only a requirement for the games to be available in deferred format on free-to-air TV.
Ireland's Rugby World Cup games are the only rugby games protected by Irish legislation - and must be shown live on free-to-air.
The list of designated events is decided by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. It includes the Olympic Games, Irish games in the FIFA World Cup and the European Football Championships as well as the All-Ireland finals in football and hurling. The Irish Grand National, Irish Derby and the Nations Cup in Showjumping also make the list.
Minister Alex White is currently reviewing the list for possible changes and additions after a public consultation period that closed in August 2014.
Six Nations chief executive John Feehan told the Daily Telegraph: "The championship has never been healthier. It is in great shape and our terrestrial broadcasters have been fantastic partners. But that being said, they, like anybody else, have to be kept honest.
"The reality is that this is an extremely important revenue stream and broadcasting is an extremely important element"
"We have developed the greatest championship in world rugby and the reality is we need to ensure that we continue to generate revenues that can fund and develop the game within the northern hemisphere.
"The Six Nations is fundamental to that. Without the revenues that the Six Nations brings in, most of the home unions probably couldn’t survive.
"So the reality is that this is an extremely important revenue stream and broadcasting is an extremely important element of that revenue. So I don’t think it is good enough just to say we wouldn’t consider every option.
"Clearly it has worked extremely well on free-to-air terrestrial and clearly they continue to be interested in going forward and we will engage very strongly with them.
"But it is an open market place and we need to keep that in mind."
Feehan stressed that any move to pay-TV was still very much at the speculative stage.
"There are still three years left on this existing contract but there is an ebb and flow. We talk to all the broadcasters all the time so it is not a case of just pitching up one day and saying: ‘Hey boys, we are ready for sale’. It doesn't work like that.
"It is an ongoing negotiation and discussion and sometimes that is brought to a head and sometimes it is not. We will pick the right time when we believe it is the best time to go to market."
BT Sports joined Sky in the pay-per-view rugby market this season, after English clubs signed a reported £152 million broadcast deal, which precipitated the reorganisation of the Heineken Cup into the European Rugby Champions Cup.
Meanwhile, the GAA's decision last April to sell exclusive TV rights to some All-Ireland football and hurling championship games to Sky for the first time proved highly controversial.
