Prem rugby in talks to sell a 51% in the league for £275 Million

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

CVC former F1 owners are interested.

Times go into detail more but it's paywall
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/275m-bid-to-buy-premiership-rugby-zq76nc6bp

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/45417946

Bye bye the national team.

When will the clubs learn that the club game won't grow until the National team starts getting more success in the world cups.


But looking at this
Sports' domestic TV rights:

Premiership Rugby (BT Sport) - £45 million per year
Premier League football (Sky, BT Sport, Amazon) - £1.5 billion per year
English cricket including internationals (Sky, BBC) - £220 million per year
Super League rugby league (Sky) - £40 million per year
NFL American football US TV rights - £5.5billion per year

Prem Rugby could get a lot more money from it's TV deals which is what CVC would do.

 

[BPM]

Those figures are unbelievable.

How can cricket be worth 5 times Premiership rugby? I know that includes internationals but in terms of relative popularity, I can't see any way that cricket can justify being so expensive by comparison?

 

[Fuzzy du Plessis]

I'm guessing the cricket deal includes everything the ECB put out, all three formats, domestic and international (and crucially the home Ashes series). It gives sky enough content to have a dedicated cricket channel and unlike rugby it's not just played on the weekends. Plus, while rugby might be a bit posh I imagine the average cricket fan is a marketers wet dream. Then you consider that the nature of cricket means long broadcasts with frequent breaks to run ads and you can see why it attracts that type of money when rugby can't.

 

[Amiga500]

What a waste.

The sooner the RFU ostracize McCafferty and PRL the better.

If the current clubs want to play under the RFU banner, then join our new revamped Division 1. If they don't, good luck surviving.

 

[Amiga500]

Just for the benefit of anyone stupid enough to even contemplate this being a good idea...

... where do you think CVC will make their money? [They have to make money, otherwise there is no point in the transaction as far as they are concerned.]


Look at F1 - they tried to drain it dry - realised they were not as bright as Bernie and had to sell up.

 

[ratsapprentice]

RFU are ******.

Depressingly predictable.

 

[Amiga500]

RFU are ******.

Indeed they are.

Yet for all their issues, they give more than two f**ks about the long term health of the game.

 

[Nudger]

Rfu should but it and control our game not some corperate finance company

 

[ratsapprentice]

Indeed they are.

Yet for all their issues, they give more than two f**ks about the long term health of the game.

Aye, just so that no-one misunderstands my post - the bleeped out naughty/"offensive" word said "F'ed"

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Indeed they are.

Yet for all their issues, they give more than two f**ks about the long term health of the game.

Thing with CVC and their ilk is that they look to make their money over the shortish term, often 3 - 5 years and they won't go into a deal like this without a good idea of their exit strategy. They'll just see it as a commodity with buy and sell prices like anything else. Legacy, long term and national team aren't in their vocabulary.

 

[mania]

worth lots and so it should . price of a soul should be expensive and this would be selling the soul of english rugby to the devil.

 

[smartcooky]

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

The domestic game and the international game need each other to survive and grow.

 

[RedruthRFC]

worth lots and so it should . price of a soul should be expensive and this would be selling the soul of english rugby to the devil.

To my mind this happened when the RFU buried their heads in the sand and allowed the clubs / their owners to seize control of the top tier of the English game around the time that professionalism came along.

 

[mania]

To my mind this happened when the RFU buried their heads in the sand and allowed the clubs / their owners to seize control of the top tier of the English game around the time that professionalism came along.

agree and this is just a continuation of club owners being in control and RFU losing even more power. but hey at least they made a big profit off it. they'll make a record profit just as the RFU becomes obsolete

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

worth lots and so it should .

£250m doesn't feel like a lot when it equates to a Neymar and a third of an Mbappe.

 

[higgik]

Not too worried as last night as the blazers get the contract right about player release and player welfare.

The RPA should also ensure that players are NOT overplayed, especially with the concussion issues.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Clubs should be in charge of themselves, especially when many of the clubs are older than the international game.

Club rugby > International rugby, especially these days.

 

[higgik]

In many ways I agree. With the blurring of international eligibility, which is only down to the professional club game, then people are less inclined to support their country.

I still would like to see complete separation of club and international seasons, like the Bruce Craig idea.

 

[C0c0nutz]

Increase it to £500m and it's a done deal.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Looking forward to Monday evening kick offs and totally overseas XVs.

We're doomed I tell you, doomed. Genies don't go back in bottles.