The RFU have provided an update on its men?s professional game partnership

[DarkKnight63]

The RFU have provided an update on its men?s professional game partnership, explaining that key elements of this new deal have been agreed. They also gave the latest on the status of negotiations regarding the Championship and its proposed revamp.

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/rfu-statement-professional-game-partnership-championship-update-england/

?The final decision on the exact format of the 14-team league will be made by the Tier 2 board no later than August 1, 2024, with the mechanism for any new teams in the league to be decided by council and announced ahead of the new season.

[SilverShire]

Big six weeks ahead.

Either the thumbs up or thumbs down will be given as to whether we can get a place in the championship for 2025/26 in August. I'm not sure how much of an issue finding somewhere to play will be. As it was announced back around February that temporary grounds had been secured in Greater London area.

With promotion/relegation being brought back, finding further investors will be easier (easier not easy). This should help with the building of the stadium in Sevenoaks if planning is granted.

We will have a year to get a head coach on board (hopefully someone with links to Wasps of old) draft a team and get a bunch of friendlies under our belts before the 25/26 comp begins.

Exciting times!

[NellyWellyWaspy]

Did I miss it in all that blather, but was there any mention of funding? Promotion/relegation was there, with the usual almost impossible ground and facilities requirements.

The other two sticking points were funding, and that the RFU intended (implied but not stated) to invite Wasps, Warriors and Irish (thus implying some existing teams would be bumped 'down').

[baldpaul101]

Did I miss it in all that blather, but was there any mention of funding?

Yes....but only to state it hasnt yet been dagreed yet

Since April, we have been working with the extended Championship executive team to reach final agreement on the following components of the league: Funding; Delegation to a new Tier 2 board; Timeline to complete the MOS self-validation process; Competition structure.

?Council were updated on the progress made since its April meeting and members approved the revised minimum operating standards self-validation timeline and final delegation of authority to the Tier 2 board.

?The final decision on the exact format of the 14-team league will be made by the Tier 2 board no later than August 1, 2024, with the mechanism for any new teams in the league to be decided by council and announced ahead of the new season.

I would suggest there is a VERY long way still to go, Funding and the potential "Franchising" element of the new Tier 2 will be & have been the fundamental sticking points. Promotion was always a bit of red herring IMO.

[Robson9]

Big six weeks ahead.

Either the thumbs up or thumbs down will be given as to whether we can get a place in the championship for 2025/26 in August. I'm not sure how much of an issue finding somewhere to play will be. As it was announced back around February that temporary grounds had been secured in Greater London area.

With promotion/relegation being brought back, finding further investors will be easier (easier not easy). This should help with the building of the stadium in Sevenoaks if planning is granted.

We will have a year to get a head coach on board (hopefully someone with links to Wasps of old) draft a team and get a bunch of friendlies under our belts before the 25/26 comp begins.

Exciting times!

Update on the scottish website today provides more clarity.

No relegation in 24/25 from the current 12 team championship. The team winning national one in 24/25 will be promoted as the 13th team, with one other spot remaining

Quote: 'this may (or may not) be the team finishing 2nd in tier one, the process for selection will be managed by the new tier 2 boars and approved by rfu council'.

So there's potentially one slot available for one of the defunct teams - and not all 3.

[baldpaul101]

No relegation in 24/25 from the current 12 team championship

I wonder if all the Champ teams will be complaining that there's no relegation that season, as they are such big fans of relegation & promotion?

Quote: 'this may (or may not) be the team finishing 2nd in tier one, the process for selection will be managed by the new tier 2 boars and approved by rfu council'.

So there's potentially one slot available for one of the defunct teams - and not all 3.

But there hasn't been any further details about the proposed make up of this "Tier 2" and the idea of franchising rather than it just being made up of the existing Champ sides etc? Or have I missed something?

[Robson9]

No relegation in 24/25 from the current 12 team championship

I wonder if all the Champ teams will be complaining that there's no relegation that season, as they are such big fans of relegation & promotion?

Quote: 'this may (or may not) be the team finishing 2nd in tier one, the process for selection will be managed by the new tier 2 boars and approved by rfu council'.

So there's potentially one slot available for one of the defunct teams - and not all 3.

But there hasn't been any further details about the proposed make up of this "Tier 2" and the idea of franchising rather than it just being made up of the existing Champ sides etc? Or have I missed something?

It hasn't helped that the rfu council and championship announcements were so high level and vague.

A few clubs (scottish, doncaster) have done their own announcements reacting to the detail we haven't seen yet - from reading those statements - tier 2 will be the current championship plus the national 1 24/25 winner plus one other. The idea of franchising (bar the potential mystery 14th club) is not happening as far as in aware.

There are minimum operating standards being put in place for 25/26 (building on the existing championship min operating standards) and the clubs are being asked to ensure that plans are in place to meet any shortfalls against the essential standards and a pathway towards the 'aspirational' standards. That's probably the closest you get to any hint of franchising requirements in the proposals

[baldpaul101]

Thanks Robson.

Never really liked the Franchise idea, although its probably Wasps (& Warriors & Irish's) only lifeline.

[baldpaul101]

Thinking about it I wonder whether a Jersey return might be a more likely outcome for that 14th place?

IIRC they only went bust because no one wanted to invest in a championship with no known future or finances. If those issues get answered I wonder whether they might find the finance & put their side back together easier than the three ex prem clubs?
Would probably be more acceptable to the existing Champ clubs & PRL too...

[NellyWellyWaspy]

For me, I have some philosophical issues with that word 'invest'.

I understand that some people with more money that any person could ever need to live well find a need express the size and pointlessness of that accumulation of wealth via public displays of said wealth.

Things named after them. Buildings, awards and so on. The Nobel prizes for example. Colleges at University, and so forth. The ability to be the 'famous' owner of a sports club. The Glazers with Manchester United, and so on.

However, money sunk in to a sport is not an investment. Any naming is lost with the next 'investor'. Any beneficence is forgotten as soon as the money ceases to flow. The benefactor is often pilloried afterwards.

Our societal desire for 'professional' sport is, on reflection, very odd and puzzling.

[NellyWellyWaspy]

I suppose I should clarify the reason for the post I just made.

The RFU, pundits, fans keep referring to money pumped in to a club as an 'investment'.

It is not. It is a folly of a rich or semi rich person, or persons. A whim, or whimsy.

Whether consciously or sub consciously, that person or those persons know that money spent is money 'lost'.

But, for as long as clubs, the RFU, and others, expect to see the current model as an 'investment', they will always struggle to find willing donors. By virtue of the way these people came by their money, they are generally not the type of people to then give it away so freely.

So, I argue that the 'model' is both flawed and broken. Clubs will continue to go under as their particular donor loses interest in their folly. Moreover, the insistence of yet higher standards (the grounds, squad sizes, salaries). The ring fencing of leagues (removal of meritocracy), makes those follies less attractive.

[JF]

Investment= someone putting their money into something you like.

Subsidy = someone putting their money into something you don't like.

[Bloke in North Dorset]

NWW,

If Blair/Brown weren?t the first to use investment as a euphemism for spending they certainly brought it in to common usage.

[baldpaul101]

Lifted form the Prates Board:

"The championship clubs have issued a joint statement which appears to be more hopeful for the future of the 2nd tier.

June 14th, 2024

The Championship has today (Friday) won the right to a realistic chance of promotion to the top-tier of the game and taken control of its destiny with the creation of a new, independently-chaired Tier 2 Board of governance.

The RFU Council today approved a promotion and relegation deal that the Championship clubs have been fighting for since the beginning of 2023.

The deal means that in order to be eligible for promotion, the minimum operating standards have been relaxed to make them more achievable and the deadline for achieving those standards will be spread over four seasons. Full details will be announced in due course.

Previously, the terms and conditions of entry had been unacceptable to Championship clubs, because the amount of investment needed and the shorter timetable made them impracticable to a potential promotion candidate.

In its meeting today, the RFU Council also approved the new Tier 2 Board, a body with an equal representation of Championship and RFU members, chaired by an independent person. That Board will take decisions affecting the commercial exploitation of the second-tier league, hence allowing our clubs to make the most of their marketing, media and broadcasting rights.

The clubs believe these changes herald a new era for the professional game in England. They set the current 12 clubs ? and all those who wish one day to join them ? onto a brighter footing.

With an agreed pathway to promotion, many of the current league?s clubs will now start the planning and investment that will give them a fighting chance to be the first non-P shareholder to reach the Premiership since London Welsh in 2014.

Simon Halliday, chairman of the Championship, said after the RFU Council?s vote: ?We have got what we came for. Now our clubs ? and every club ? can realistically dream of promotion to the Premiership.

?There is now a genuine path for ambitious clubs to rise; the top tier is reconnected to the rest of the English rugby and we can use our commercial potential to fund the growth that rugby sorely needs at our level.

?This is a result that brings common resolve to our sport, guaranteeing that English rugby remains open and fair from the lowest league to the highest.?


Key thing there which wasnt apparent on the previous statements is that the Minimum Operating standards for the prem will be relaxed & can be met over a longer period. Plus a much more optimistic view from the champ clubs themselves.
Doesnt help any of the folded clubs, in fact, may make it even harder IMO.