Its start to look like a death spiral:
Smaller league means fewer games leading less revenue from gate receipts, F&B, replica kit sales, matchday sponsorship etc as well as reduced revenue from TV deals. It also means fewer games for players to the point where some may feel they're not getting enough game time in a game they love.
The clubs are becoming more reliant on the RFU for funding through the professional game agreement.
The response of the Premiership is to reduce the salary cap and widen the gap between what players are paid in comparison to other leagues, especially the French.
The smaller squads will also lead to being less competitive in Europe, reducing the incentives for top players to stay here.
As players leave and make themselves unavailable for England the national team will suffer. If conversations here are to be taken as a guide then there's already a problem with long standing rugby fans not being interested in England or at least going to Twickenham. If England's performance starts to decline the fair weather fans are going to be less likely to put their hands in their pockets and paying for exorbitant ticks and match day experience.
If the RFU starts losing revenue then that means less to feed back in to the professional game and crucially the lower leagues and game development, from where the talent they need is nurtured.
We've seen this story played out in Wales and it hasn't been pretty.
The further rugby declines the more likely players are to sacrifice a call up to a second rate national team in search of a better lifestyle and more money in France.
I don't know the answers, but I do know that special pleading from DoRs isn't one of them.
And a quick look at the final games of the season gives lie to the claim that a smaller league would give rise to closer, more entertaining, games: 90:0 makes a mockery of a that claim and in the same round Chiefs beat Quins by 32 points.
Topic: Directors of rugby agree on overseas player rule and more (Read 144 times)
Always a Wasp