Premiership Rugby "threatened a radical move" to break away from the Rugby Football Union and form its own independent league, according to Nik Simon of the London DAILY MAIL. In board meeting minutes, club chairs reportedly discussed an "unregulated competition" if the RFU refuses to "scrap promotion and relegation." Amid claims that the Championship is a "monetary disaster," the clubs are becoming "increasingly rebellious" following a "year of tension" with the governing body. But a breakaway would jeopardize the £30M ($38M)-a-year Professional Game Agreement with the RFU, "sacrifice the game's framework and could prove catastrophic for the national team." Board minutes stated, "If the RFU were to be unwilling to support change, we shall need to ensure access to match officials and player insurance cover (as this is a joint policy), as this would potentially become an unregulated competition." With private equity firm CVC due to imminently inject £200M ($254M) of capital, top-flight clubs are "increasingly keen to ringfence the league to provide financial security." Former Formula 1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone, who was consulted by CVC over the deal, said, "CVC will grow it to make a profit. If you got hold of the guys and tarted them up, it would be better than American football" (DAILY MAIL, 1/5). In London, Simon also reported the full 45 pages of minutes from a series of Premiership Rugby board meetings at the Sofitel Hotel in Heathrow Terminal 5 were revealed. The potential breakaway is named "Project Webb" and, in selling CVC a 27% stake, club chairs will "hand over control of the commercial committee in an attempt to maximize the league's returns." In the minutes, Premiership Rugby CEO Mark McCafferty outlines his "deep dive" meetings, and targets are set for a 50% increase in broadcast and sponsorship revenue in '22. Bristol Owner Steve Lansdown said, "We need to take our sport onto another level and that means going out into the commercial world and exploiting it. The deal makes a lot of sense and CVC is a great partner for us to do that with." There will also be more overseas games, and "an attempt to break into China under the deal." Lansdown: "There's a brave new world of streaming, social media and sponsorships and CVC is in a great position to go out and exploit that" (DAILY MAIL, 1/5).
'NOT AT WAR': The BBC reported Premiership Rugby Chair Ian Ritchie said that it is "right and proper" to look into scrapping promotion and relegation. But he rejected suggestions leading clubs are "at war" with the RFU over the issue, or that changes "are imminent." Ritchie called the claim of a breakaway league "ridiculous." He said, "You would expect all boards to discuss issues like Premiership promotion and relegation and we've been doing that for some time. But to be clear as well, we've got an eight-year agreement with the RFU" (BBC, 1/6).
