Ireland won the 2018 Six Nations.GETTY IMAGES
The Six Nations is "resigned to taking another hefty hit this season" over the depreciating value of its title sponsorship, according to Peter Jackson of THE RUGBY PAPER. Last year, the unions running the tournament rejected an offer of £14M a year from RBS after Scotland and Wales objected, "claiming the event was worth more." Within months, the value had shriveled by a third to £9M. Now "it has fallen again, by as much as a third." Only 18 months ago, the unions believed their title sponsorship was worth £100M over six years, the equivalent of £16.6M a year. Despite talking to more than 100 multi-national companies, "none was prepared to come anywhere near" RBS' £14M. It triggered a chain of events "which ended with the resignation of the man who had helped build the tournament into a roaring commercial success," CEO John Feehan. The Six Nations "are far from alone in feeling the chill wind of a volatile market." The Champions Cup "has also suffered from a spectacular devaluation" in title sponsorship. When the clubs "wrenched control" of the Heineken Cup from the national unions in '14, the Dutch beer company was paying £10M a year. The English and French clubs, backed by the four Welsh regions, believed their competition had been undersold. They wanted six "elite sponsors" paying £3M each but failed to raise "anywhere near" the projected £18M. Heineken stayed in at £3M as "one of the few." Now that organizer European Professional Club Rugby has changed its policy, Heineken has been restored as sole sponsor, but at £5.5M ($7.2M) a year, "almost half the price" it was paying four years ago. The English domestic game "has also suffered." Aviva extended its sponsorship of the Premiership last year at a "reduced rate" before being succeeded by another insurance company, Gallagher (THE RUGBY PAPER, 10/2).
