Clutching at straws. Rugby has no idea where it is going. Normal platitudes about fiscal responsibility etc and growing the game. Inspiration from the Hundred seems ridiculous as that was based on launching a different game/product (in the summer months). If they had taken the same approach with traditional forms of cricket it would have failed. Winter rugby a difficult product to market.
Rugby is an absolute mess isn't it?
I see the rugby league World Cup finals may have to move from France due to financial problems.
It seems union is taking approach akin to that the United States does with guns, this is the problem, the only way to solve it is double down on what we're already doing.
I see the rugby league World Cup finals may have to move from France due to financial problems.
It seems union is taking approach akin to that the United States does with guns, this is the problem, the only way to solve it is double down on what we're already doing.
Its problem is that it just over estimates again and again how popular the game is. It didn't take off in England despite all the coverage of the Rugby World Cup win in 2003. Trying to copy what football does is nonsensical, football has created these elite leagues purely because it has sufficient worldwide interest in that it can commercialise it that way, even if doing so it has devalued a number of other competitions . Rugby cannot afford to do that.
It is quite keen on some of the surrounding villages
I know there's money and interest in international rugby, but Club Rugby should just revert back to being amateur.
There is only real interest in a few countries let's be honest, most of the world population doesn't care
I was thinking about the 6 nations, the rugby championship, world cup, autumn internationals, lions tour, etc. With the limited nature of the competitions, they appear to draw a lot of interest and spectator numbers. I would have even thought you'd be able to raise decent TV viewing figures for these matches, unlike Premiership Rugby.
I looked up how much BT Sports paid for the rights to Premiership Rugby, and it's less than 40 million a year - and has actually gone down since the last deal they had. It's paltry compared to the Premier Leagues UK football rights alone.
Which tbf is where the premier League is in danger of killing other sports and not just football lower down. If you're half decent athlete at school and not really into something, it's a no brainer to focus on football, so less good players in other sports as a result, less interest because of that...
I remember reading similar things about US sports (basketball etc) having impacted on the West Indies cricket team's pool of players over the years too.
Those meanies at the HMRC want paying now...
London Irish: Premiership club served winding-up petition by HMRC
Cash-strapped Premiership club London Irish are served a winding-up petition by HM Revenue & Customs over an unpaid tax bill.
www.bbc.co.uk
The PRL decision to sell future income streams to CVC looked short sighted at the time, looks worse now.
delayed the inevitable. 3 or 4 clubs would have gone bust earlier without that cash injection. Leicester & Exeter have also needed large cash injections from ownership this season to stay afloat. Hardly a great deal for CVC either as next TV contract will be even less than the last one.
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To be fair, I don't think anyone below the Prem didn't see it coming - and a good many up top saw it too.
You just had vocal idiots making as much noise as possible to drown out the realistic ones.
