Jamie George leaves Team England Rugby, Itoje and Genge stay on Sport Business International rugby union player Jamie George has left his role as director of the company he formed with teammates to handle contract and commercial negotiations with the RFU. A Companies House update reveals that the former British and Irish Lion has left Team England Rugby Limited, effective last month. The company was credited with helping [...]
Investec Champions Cup: How Prem Rugby can beat Top 14 budgets Sport Business It seems to come around quicker every year; not Christmas but the Investec Champions Cup. Some criticise the competition – whether it is because of the inclusion of the South African United Rugby Championship teams, its availability being restricted to Premier Sports or its odd pool format – but it is the very best of [...]
EY: Traditional sports cricket and rugby union surging in popularity Sport Business Rugby union and cricket have surged into the top 10 most popular sports across the UK in what is a tonic for traditional sports, new research has shown. Cricket climbed six places in the EY-Parthenon Sports Engagement Index to eighth, while rugby union jumped three spots to 10th. Football, Formula 1, Swimming and Tennis all [...]
ITV launches £80m bid for rugby’s Nations Championship December 2, 2025 Rugby union’s inaugural Nations Championship looks set to be shown on free-to-air television after ITV bid more than £80m. If successful, every Six Nations match and Nations Championship fixture will be terrestrial TV in the UK until at least 2029. The broadcaster has been in competition with TNT Sports, the early favourites to land the [...]
R360 launch delayed until 2028 after unions threaten players with bans November 28, 2025 R360 chiefs insist they remain “absolutely determined to bring it to life at full scale and with maximum global impact” after delaying the launch of the rugby franchise league until 2028. Organisers and investors including City grandee Martin Gilbert and former England international Mike Tindall had intended to start the globetrotting competition in 2026 but [...]
Prem Rugby should consider radical shake-up of player transfer market November 28, 2025 The best thing about the football off-season is the transfer speculation, deal agreements and player announcements. Watching teams bid £100m for a player is somewhat grotesque but it is also addictive, and transfer deadline day is some of the best live sports news around. Rugby has none of this. That’s mostly because players tend to [...]
British Lions vows to ban players who defect to R360 rugby breakaway November 26, 2025 British and Irish Lions chiefs have landed another blow on R360’s plans by warning they will not pick any player who signs up for the planned rugby franchise league. It follows England, Ireland, New Zealand and five other leading unions adopting the same stance last month and comes less than a year before R360’s proposed [...]
England rugby chiefs axe bonus scheme that led to coup attempt on CEO Sweeney November 25, 2025 The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has scrapped the controversial long-term incentive plan (LTIP) that led to a major rebellion against CEO Bill Sweeney earlier this year. Sweeney faced and survived a vote of no confidence in February after it emerged that he had been paid £1.1m in 2023-24 despite the RFU making a loss of [...]
Scotland Rugby should demand Wales’ cut region, and target Newcastle Red Bulls November 21, 2025 Is the Scotland rugby team a little bit naff? They’re struggling to beat the biggest of opponents and are always the nearly team in the Six Nations. They’ll probably finish this autumn with expected wins over the USA and Tonga, while agonising losses to New Zealand and Argentina – thanks to one of the greatest [...]
England Rugby extends deal with O2 until 2031 November 20, 2025 England Rugby this morning penned a deal with O2, extending the partnership between the two organisations to 35 years. The extension will see O2 remain the front-of-shirt sponsor for England Rugby’s men’s and women’s teams in what the Rugby Football Union describes as “one of the longest standing shirt sponsorships in the world”. It is [...]