Tittle-Tattle, Or Might It Happen?

IN THE East Ayrshire mining village where I was born, the juiciest gossip of any particular week was: “The talk o' the Tap Store” - the local Co-operative branch at the East end of the village. In the village that is the game of Rugby Union, we may not have a “Tap Store” but, there is no question what is this week's hot topic – it is this story of the formation of a British and Irish League.

This story broke on the sports pages of The Daily Telegraph. If Rugby Union in Engladnd is “The Tory Party with grubby knees”, then it is reasonable to expect that, in breaking the story, ”The Torygraph” - the Conservative Party's house journal, knew what they were talking about.

Naturally, the BKT United Rugby Championship, whose whole existence is threatened by this move, were quick to release a statement pouring cold water on the proposal. This statement said:

Statement: BKT URC Focused on Continued Growth

Contrary to media reports the BKT United Rugby Championship is not engaged in discussions regarding a British & Irish league. Since the introduction of the four South African teams in 2021, the league has enjoyed a sustained period of outstanding success achieving record audiences, attendances, social media growth and new levels of competitiveness.  This is due in great part to the efforts of all 16 teams across Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa and Wales which has elevated the league to new heights. The BKT URC is committed to continuing this pace of growth ahead of the new season and far into the future.  ENDS

EDITOR'S NOTES: Facts & figures related to BKT URC growth in the 2023/24 season Attendances Overall: 1.69million fans (+ 3%) Avg: 11.2k per game Record Round: 146k (Round 9) Broadcast Total Audience: 47.7million (+ 27%) Avg: 2.39m viewers per round Record Round: 3.4m (Round 11) Play-Off Audience: 4.7m Social Media Fastest Growing Rugby Competition (29%) Total followers: 1.4million Engagement: +22% Club follower growth: +94% YouTube Growth Total views: 40.6million (+366%) Subscribers: 140k (+84%

That then is the official view, from the URC Headquarters in Dublin. “Load of rubbish, nothing to see here, we're happy as we are, move along”.

It may be significant, but, the Gallagher Premiership, who this week announced an extension to the naming rights, which cede these to international insurance company Gallagher for the next ten years, have made no comment on the story. None of the four Home Unions – who are the major stakeholders in the URC and the English Premiership has commented either, while CVC Partners, the Luxembourg-based money men, who are significant shareholders in the two leagues, have not yet made a public comment.

My own rule in interpreting such stories has always been: Follow The Money; if CVC thinks a British and Irish League would be a good move and would bring in additional finance, then it will happen.

As I see it, the stumbling block to setting-up a B&I League is this: the URC is owned by the national Unions, the Premiership is owned by the Clubs. The IRFU, SRU and WRU can speak to the RFU, but cannot speak to the clubs who own the Premiership.

Who needs a B&I League the most? I would reckon the English clubs, given their precarious financial situation have the greater need.Although, having said that. Perhaps the Welsh Regions will feel regular cross-border games will drag more fans back through the gates.

Certainly not having to fly off to South Africa and remain there for two weeks twice per season would reduce costs for the Irish, Scots and Welsh sides, but, given the way the English always want the major say in how sport is managed in the British Isles, they would have to live with everything having to go the way London wanted them to.

Basically, if a B&I League coould bring in a television deal roughly on-par with that currently held by the French, it will happen. The further any such deal is away from the French benchmark, the less likely it is to go ahead.

The we come to the horse trading about league format. Obviously a single 20-club league would be unwieldy – a 39 game season is a no-no. So, we are talking about either a two-conference league: two divisions of ten clubs each and of equal standing, with end of season play-offs, perhaps for the top four sides in each conference – a 21 game season, plus European games.

There has been talk of it being a straight two division set-up, the top five clubs from each of the URC and the Premiership going into thr First Division, the clubs finishing sixth to tenth into the Second, for the inaugural season, followed by promotion and relegation.

Other thorny subjects for any meaningful discussions would include player release for internationals. One of the difficulties facing the English clubs in any negotiations would be, they would be dealing with full Unions, who would want their players released for internationals – at the moment, the English clubs do not have to release their Irish, Scottish or Welsh players for international duty. That would surely cease in a B&I League.

Mind you, as I have always said, if they are ever going to set-up a proper functioning British and Irish League, or even a pan-European one, the organisers would surely have to have a Collective Bargaining Agreement, in an effort to level the playing field. This would probably end the current inducements the Irish appear to enjoy as regards budgets.

Also, and this one just struck me – given Dublin is the epicentre of World Rugby power, would the English be happy to see the new B&I League headquartered there, to be close to World Rugby and the Six Nations management?

AS I have said all along, it could happen, there is a case for letting it happen, but the road between this notion, floated in the Telegraph, and the first games, will be long and rocky.