Saracens chief Mark Thompson: TV deals, club losses and future of rugby September 17, 2024 Saracens Rugby’s new chief executive Mark Thompson discusses TV broadcast deals, the club’s path away from their recent £5m loss and the state of rugby union and its future. Being a rugby bigwig cannot be far from the most stressful job in sporting governance; the English game is a borderline failure and clubs are churning [...]
Rugby needs to look to USA and other wild ideas September 13, 2024 When I read this week in City A.M. that Premiership rugby clubs are keen to head to the United States again I was pleased, if not too surprised. It didn’t really take off in 2016 and 2017, when clubs from the Gallagher Premiership last went across the pond, but that’s not to say rugby cannot [...]
Gallagher re-sign as Premiership Rugby sponsor in uplifted deal September 12, 2024 Insurance giant Gallagher this morning reaffirmed their commitment to English top flight sport, signing an increased value sponsorship deal with Premiership Rugby. The move will take Gallagher’s title sponsorship span with the Premiership to beyond a decade upon conclusion of the three-year extension, which begins at the start of the 2025/26 season. Gallagher – whose [...]
Exclusive: Saracens back Premiership rugby games in USA, league supportive September 10, 2024 The Gallagher Premiership could host matches overseas again after Saracens backed the idea of taking English top-flight rugby back to the United States. Premiership clubs have not played a match in the US since 2017, when just 6,000 fans watched Newcastle Falcons take on Saracens in Philadelphia. But Saracens’ new chief executive Mark Thompson has [...]
British and Irish Lions will maul Wallabies on 2025 tour September 6, 2024 At this stage, 317 days out from the first Test in Brisbane, it’s difficult to see any other result than a 3-0 series mauling of the Wallabies when the British and Irish Lions tour Australia. A lot can change in the coming months and the southern hemisphere hosts could suddenly come good, but I have [...]
Worst Corporate Jargon of the Week Awards: Scrum September 5, 2024 A scrum is not a casual Slack video call or an innocent gathering of penguins. No, a scrum is something more akin to a belief system.
RFU and Premiership Rugby sign landmark deal to shape future of game September 4, 2024 Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney hailed a “significant milestone” in the English game on Wednesday as the national governing body, Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Players Association yesterday agreed a new eight-year Professional Game Partnership. The swathes of changes to the English game will see the national coach Steve Borthwick given dominion over [...]
Premier Sports planning 24/7 rugby channel with Champions Cup at heart August 14, 2024 Broadcaster Premier Sports are planning to create a 24/7 rugby union channel after announcing a deal to show every match of the Investec Champions Cup over the next three years. Club rugby’s top competition is moving from TNT Sports, mainly due to the Warner Bros. Discovery company making an investment into international rugby with the [...]
Woodward: RFU have sold soul in Allianz Stadium deal August 7, 2024 Coach of the 2003 Rugby World Cup winning England side Clive Woodward has described the decision to rename Twickenham the Allianz Stadium as “sad”, and insists the RFU board have “sold its soul”. England entered into a partnership with the major insurer Allianz which will see home of rugby Twickenham rebranded with the firm’s name [...]
Ahead of the Game: Six Nations facing compensation fight over £800m deal snub July 31, 2024 In his first weekly sports news column, Matt Hughes reports on the row between the Six Nations and southern hemisphere chiefs over the Nations Championship, the value of Team GB’s new deal with Adidas, Everton’s tensions with the Premier League, and England cricket chiefs’s latest hire. The Six Nations are facing potential demands for tens [...]