WRU boss Nigel Walker admits there has been 'tension' over taking Wales' World Cup warm-up games off free-to-air TV this summer.
Warren Gatland's men have back-to-back Principality Stadium and Twickenham clashes with England and another Cardiff showdown against world champions South Africa before heading to the global showpiece in France this autumn.
The games are likely to attract capacity crowds, but won't be on mainstream TV channels.
Instead, Amazon Prime have won the rights to broadcast the summer Tests involving Wales and the other Six Nations teams as the games go behind a paywall.
Amazon also televise Wales' autumn Tests and Walker was quizzed about the subscription model issue when appearing in front of a part of a Parliamentary hearing into broadcasting in Wales conducted by the Welsh Affairs committee.
He explained it was a tricky balance to strike between desperately needed revenue for the Welsh game and the desire to keep rugby fully in the public eye on terrestrial television, where the audiences are significantly bigger.
The WRU's interim chief executive, who is also among the contenders for the full-time role, told MPs: "Something like 40 per cent of our total income received comes from broadcasting.
"It is also the vehicle for transmitting the game to the whole of Wales. I know how important it is to get that equation right between the amount of money offered and the number of hours and minutes it produces.
"There is always a tension between free to air, with it being available to people without too much fuss, and the revenue generated for national governing bodies. We're always playing with that tension, hoping we finish on the right side of the line.
"So the Six Nations is free to air, ITV and BBC, the autumn internationals are currently with Amazon, behind a traditional paywall as they say."
Asked if the involvement of private equity firm CVC into the sport meant it was inevitable every Wales game and other top rugby matches went behind a paywall, Walker replied: "I don't think it's inevitable. It's incumbent upon people like me and my colleagues who sit around the table to ensure we achieve the right balance - as much revenue as possible into the game, but without losing control of the game.
"It's a tension. But from conversations I have with my colleagues there's no desire for the appeal of money to overtake our desire to make as many games as possible free to air. We're not about to sell the game to the highest bidder.
"Eyeballs on the screen, eyeballs on the product, are still really really important."
Walker continued: "Some governing bodies have gone completely the other way and are on pay TV pretty much exclusively. Rugby in Wales has not gone down that route.
"I talk to my colleagues, CEOs in other Six Nations countries, we are very clear we need to achieve that balance. Yes you want as many pounds shillings and pence as you can get, but you have to make sure you are taking the game to the widest possible audience if it is to thrive going forward.
"It may well become increasingly more difficult. What we rely upon are the free-to-air broadcasters to continue to be competitive. That doesn't necessarily mean outbid their opponents, but be competitive.
"My personal view is the WRU will continue to look closely at those bids, it won't just be top level (bids)."
Walker went on: "Every organisation has their price. For some national governing bodies that price has been reached.
"For us it would have to be a significantly greater price than I've seen so far, for the reasons stated. Because if you want to grow the game, want youngsters picking up a ball in Fishguard or say Bala, the way you do that is through actually seeing the product on TV.
"Big, must-see events, where 60 to 70 per cent of the population of Wales are tuned in, have to continue to be brought to large audiences."
Cardiff MP Kevin Brennan estimated it would cost rugby fans a whopping £806 a year to watch games on TV when taking into account the BBC licence, plus the various subscription services which show the sport, including Amazon.
Addressing that stark figure, as households up and down the land struggle to make ends meet, Walker said: "It's something that we talk about, it is about the package. We do the selfish bit, what does Welsh rugby need, what does the WRU need.
"But we also look at the supporter, the follower of Welsh rugby and we do go through those calculations. We do have those conversations and that's where the tension comes in.
"We feel we've come down the right side of the line, it will be for supporters and followers of Welsh rugby to tell us if they think we've come down the wrong side of the line."
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