Prem Rugby Big Match Bonanza test of sport’s commercial aims Sport Betting This weekend will go far in helping onlookers assess how much progress Prem Rugby has made in recent years. Because on Saturday the first match since Australia beat Uruguay in the 2015 Rugby World Cup will take place at Villa Park in Birmingham. The geography is a little bit iffy given the home team – [...]
Which Gallagher Prem Rugby stadium is the best? Sport Business There are 10 Gallagher Prem Rugby teams fighting to thrive, survive and just coast along this year – and their stadiums are key to achieving momentum. But which stadium is the best to watch England’s top flight competition in? In last year’s inaugural edition I had Newcastle Falcons’ (now Newcastle Red Bulls) Kingston Park bottom, [...]
Exclusive: Leicester Tigers and DCMS face scrutiny over £6m Covid loan renegotiation Sport Business Leicester Tigers and DCMS are facing questions after they altered the repayment terms of the club’s £6m Covid-19 loan to interest-only until 2028. The change, which only emerged in the Prem Rugby club’s most recent financial accounts, casts further doubt on DCMS’s chances of recouping its £474m lending to sporting and cultural bodies – raising [...]
Premiership Rugby final scores record UK TV figures June 17, 2025 The Premiership Rugby final between Bath and Leicester Tigers was the most watched edition in history, it was revealed on Tuesday. Bath’s 23-21 victory at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham last Saturday, a win that ended a 28-year wait to win the English top flight, was watched by a record 973,000 people across TNT Sports and [...]
Bath favourites for Premiership title but you cannot write off Cheika June 13, 2025 Saturday’s sell-out Premiership final between Bath Rugby and Leicester Tigers feels like something from the 90s, when these two – alongside Wasps – were the powerhouses of English ovalball. But looking at the two squads set to clash at the 82,000-capacity Allianz Stadium in Twickenham this weekend, they couldn’t be any further from those teams [...]
Premiership play-offs: Bath and Leicester to set up old school final June 6, 2025 The final day of the Premiership was a brilliant advert for English top-flight rugby, but this weekend’s play-offs will turn that up another notch. On Friday night runaway league leaders Bath take on local rivals Bristol Bears while, on Saturday, Leicester face Sale Sharks in the East Midlands. The Premiership semi-finals are always a series [...]
Away ends in Premiership Rugby have arrived, but what do fans think? April 18, 2025 One of the commandments of the “Rugby Values” brigade is the ability for home and away fans to sit next to each other, enjoy a beer and have some healthy banter. For the vast majority of rugby fans this approach is the preferred one, with the kettling of supporters pre-and post-match – as is the [...]
Premiership clubs cannot get bored of Champions Cup failures, it’s the pinnacle April 8, 2025 Looking across the results from the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup at the weekend with a focus on the seven English teams, there were six results that went the way many expected and one that didn’t. Gloucester’s victory in France against Montpellier was a real surprise, but wins for Northampton Saints and Bath, [...]
Which English teams can win this weekend in the Investec Champions Cup? April 3, 2025 There’s always a fuzzy feeling when the Investec Champions Cup returns to the calendar, especially during the knockout stages. There are six French teams, five English sides and five URC outfits left in the competition but I do fear for the Gallagher Premiership contingent this weekend. Usually the five competing teams – Northampton Saints, Saracens, [...]
Leicester Tigers make key role change as season nears finale March 24, 2025 Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers’ majority shareholder Tom Scott has become the club’s chairman, replacing the long-serving Peter Tom after 33 years. Scott has owned the East Midlands club’s parent company, Leicester Football Club plc, since 2023 having taken an earlier stakeholding in the 11-time Premiership champions. Scott moves into the role of chairman having [...]