PRL - the Insistence on Suicide

[SéniorHuevo]

That CVC deal was a virus. And many of the clubs who signed up to it are now either a) bankrupt -non existent or) left with a club they can't get rid of.

Quins losses were almost a match of the money CVC deal don't give and now Exeter bleeding cash. Fact is owning a rugby club provides a fraction of the coverage as a football team and is geographically limited.

The salary cap should have been slashed and the only way out of this looks like the RFU eventually deciding they don't want to bail this out, letting players go wherever and financial reality take over.

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Quins losses were almost a match of the money CVC deal

Quins also look like they are only just going to fall short of breaking even, as per the CEO, only because Big Game had a lower attendance than expected. Not too shabby tbh

 

[SéniorHuevo]

Quins also look like they are only just going to fall short of breaking even, as per the CEO, only because Big Game had a lower attendance than expected. Not too shabby tbh

Well I am talking about last year's accounts. If they are close this year that's a huge success. But then you have the other 9 bleeding. You either need to get a cap that means clubs make money if you are actually running it like a franchise league , which means hard cuts now for 3 or 4 years and bin the p shares so you can actually expand or you bin the salary cap completely and have p and r with lower stadium standards so clubs can shuffle around. I would probably go the first option having seen Exeter finances.

 

[Which Tyler]

They really REALLY don't want me to support English club rugby

Gallagher Prem: Plan for expanded, ring-fenced league from 2029
RFU, Prem Rugby and Champ Rugby working together to agree entry criteria and a mechanism for removing underperforming clubs from new franchised top flight


Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive, is supportive of the franchise plan for the Prem and he is on record as saying that promotion and relegation no longer works in its traditional form.
The Champ has been against the move, describing it recently as “anti-sport” because it removes aspiration and jeopardy. However, all three bodies are working towards find a solution.
The RFU council would need to approve a change to the structure of the English club game. A proposal will only be tabled once there is broad agreement, which could be as soon as next month’s council meeting.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

They really REALLY don't want me to support English club rugby

Gallagher Prem: Plan for expanded, ring-fenced league from 2029
RFU, Prem Rugby and Champ Rugby working together to agree entry criteria and a mechanism for removing underperforming clubs from new franchised top flight


Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive, is supportive of the franchise plan for the Prem and he is on record as saying that promotion and relegation no longer works in its traditional form.
The Champ has been against the move, describing it recently as “anti-sport” because it removes aspiration and jeopardy. However, all three bodies are working towards find a solution.
The RFU council would need to approve a change to the structure of the English club game. A proposal will only be tabled once there is broad agreement, which could be as soon as next month’s council meeting.

Don’t want to spook investors with the prospect of relegation. They don’t want to risk it all on the pitch.

Bit Boris Johnson in favour of having cake and eating it. In the real world investors do have to take risks and not every investment works.

Plus we’ve seen before that provided clubs can bounce back from relegation and be even stronger. The problems have been where clubs have been massively overstretched making it to the Prem in the first place.

 

[SéniorHuevo]

They really REALLY don't want me to support English club rugby

Gallagher Prem: Plan for expanded, ring-fenced league from 2029
RFU, Prem Rugby and Champ Rugby working together to agree entry criteria and a mechanism for removing underperforming clubs from new franchised top flight


Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive, is supportive of the franchise plan for the Prem and he is on record as saying that promotion and relegation no longer works in its traditional form.
The Champ has been against the move, describing it recently as “anti-sport” because it removes aspiration and jeopardy. However, all three bodies are working towards find a solution.
The RFU council would need to approve a change to the structure of the English club game. A proposal will only be tabled once there is broad agreement, which could be as soon as next month’s council meeting.

I have no problem with a franchise model but they don't actually want that. A franchise would mean p shares are gone (which at this rate is probably a million if you are lucky) . Then you need to publish players salaries in full and you also need to have a salary cap that ensures the majority make a profit (so slashing the cap probably by 3 million).

It is also designed to grow the league but I see no real interest from the Prem Clubs to get to 12 or even 14.

If it was closed shop and they are selected teams who could grow the sport (Plymouth, Coventry etc who would then also be given the right to sign anyone currently under contract) it might actually be worth it.

Plus there has been no relegation for nigh on 5 years. No team is ever getting relegated, they say they want a franchise league but that means essentially clubs give up the power on designing how the league is run.

 

[higgik]

Doncaster and Rotherham are pulling the South Yorkshire crowd away from each other.
They should get together at Pro Level to create a South Yorkshire franchise, while using the 2 clubs as development pathways and community development.
The area is crying out for a big sports team and with Sheffield would have a large fanbase.

 

[higgik]

Then add in Coventry as the West Midlands franchise, Wasps as SE London.
This would then be 13 teams, with maybe Pirates or Worcester as 14th team.
2 groups of 7, 12 matches in group then 6 matches from the 7 other teams.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Franchises. Hmmm.

I suppose part of all this is what you want from your rugby. If you just want to see the best players that budgets can run to, then fine. And that seems to be exactly what a lot of people do want, looking at sport as just another entertainment option.

But, for me at any rate, sport is at its best when there’s also an emotional and identity side to it. If a team is called Gloucester or Bath then I want to see stability and a large local element, a majority, of local players or outsiders who have at least invested in the place for the long term. I want to see players as representing their town or city, not just happening to stop off there for a year or two until a better offer comes along.

To pick an extreme example, it’s great that Newcastle have a rugby team, but to me it’s just a random collection of players which brings a large degree of ‘so what’. And yes I know they’ve spoken about developing local talent, but they’ve also spoken about challenging for honours in relatively short order and they’ll only do that by buying in more and more proven talent most of whom will only stay for the short term.

I fully accept that audience demands change and that I am almost certainly pining for a world that can’t exist any more. But it’s one of the reasons why I barely watch football now - the skill levels are incredible, but I have no interest in watching an international all stars select XI masquerading as a club. It would be a shame if I got to that mindset with club rugby.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

As said above they don’t actually mean franchises. If the clubs continue to own the p shares there is no franchise because they own the shares.