Relegation and promotion are “very unlikely” to be introduced into the RBS Six Nations, but in time the rugby tournament could grow to seven nations, according to the CEO of the competition. Six Nations Rugby CEO John Feehan has poured cold water on suggestions that the Six Nations would benefit if it introduced a promotion and relegation system. The proposal would mean the bottom placed nation would be relegated to Europe’s second tier, the European Nations Cup, whilst the top second tier nation would be rewarded with a spot in the Six Nations. Italy is currently bottom of the Six Nations and has finished at the bottom in 10 of 15 competitions it has been in. Italy is usually fighting it out with Scotland for the wooden spoon.
COMPETITIVE EDGE: Observers believe that promotion and relegation would create an added competitive edge to the Six Nations whilst also helping raise the performance levels of second tier nations, such as Georgia, Portugal and Romania. But Feehan said promoting and relegating a team was not on the agenda, as demotion could have disastrous implications for rugby in that country. Feehan said, “It’s very unlikely to happen. Effectively, the Six Nations is not a European League as such. At the end of the day, it’s owned by the six unions concerned. Who do you throw out? And what effect will that have on their business in the long term? The reality is that it’s very unlikely.”
LUCKY SEVEN: However, Feehan did offer the possibility of the tournament expanding to seven nations. He said, “There is a possibility I suppose at some stage in the future we could go to Seven Nations, which would be inclusive rather than necessarily exclusive. But at the moment we still have a fair job to do in my view to make sure that Italy are properly bedded in and they are as successful as they can be.” Feehan was speaking to SBD Global just days after the EPL sold TV rights to its games to pay-TV providers Sky and BT for a record $7.9B, a 71% increase on its last TV rights. The massive hike in the TV rights has raised the possibility that the Six Nations could also sell its broadcast rights to pay-TV providers.
CONSIDERING OPTIONS: Feehan said he was prepared to consider all options when the current BBC deals runs out in '17, but said he was not “mad keen” to go down the pay-TV route. He said, “You can’t rule anything out, but we are not particularly mad keen to go down the route of pay operators. It’s just we have got to ensure that everybody is given an opportunity.”
THE PROMISED LAND: One area which the Six Nations has earmarked as key is growing the competition’s popularity in the U.S. Feehan said the tournament was popular in the U.S., pointing to the 35,000 unique users from the States visiting the Six Nations website during the first round of matches. Feehan: “We view the U.S. market as a very important future market for us and we will certainly be giving it a significant amount of extra attention over the next number of years.”
John Reynolds is a writer in London.
