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Will Nigel Wray buy the broadcast rights to the Championship?
Imagine spending a large proportion of your children’s inheritance on something as pointless as rugby? Now imagine that you had successfully created one of the greatest club teams in the history of that sport?
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You would then imagine, if this was the case, there might be a large bronze statue of you outside Twickenham. Maybe even a hospitality suite. The absolute minimum you would expect is a car park!
However, Nigel Wray is about as likely to have the Twickenham car park named after him as Greta Thunberg. Instead, the ex-Saracens supremo is having to endure frosty atmospheres the young Swede could only dream.
Yet, while the rest of the rugby world pours scorn on Wray, one might imagine that the man himself might feel he has been a bit stitched up. Week after week new punishments are handed down, each seemingly less considered than the last.
One of the most remarkable things about this whole episode is the apparent lack of fight shown by Saracens, who truly believe they are being disproportionately punished for nothing more than great player welfare.
(Continue reading below…)
WATCH: The Rugby Pod sets the scene ahead of the 2020 Guinness Six Nations and reflects on yet more Saracens fallout
So where is the reaction?
Men of Wray’s predilection don’t really do defeat. They certainly don’t do humiliation, so maybe, just maybe, while Premiership Rugby Limited (PRL) are busy metaphorically setting fire to an already dead Saracens corpse, they have taken their eye off the ball.
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The twelve rival club owners are busy fighting a battle whereas Wray is off to win a war. Thankfully for him, being lucky is just as valuable as being talented. By all accounts he is both.
I joked on last week’s Eggchasers podcast that rather than Saracens worrying about the PRL ringfencing the Premiership, PRL should be worried about Saracens ringfencing the Championship.
In an extraordinary turn of luck for Wray, the Championship’s broadcast and commercial rights happen to be up for tender. The traditionally unloved competition made out of pros, semi-pros and aspiring players trying to eke out a living from rugby will now be playing one of the greatest teams of all time.
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Any commercial rights deal with the Championship will now include not just the likes of Steven Shingler at Ealing and Toby Flood at Newcastle, but also world rugby’s most marketable star Maro Itoje and the England captain himself Owen Farrell.
Wray knows exactly the value (sort of) of these players and might well look at the prospect of some organisation jumping on the Championship/Saracens bandwagon rather unfavourably. Might he decide to buy the rights himself?
EXCLUSIVE:
The behind the scenes story on the Chris Ashton property deal. https://t.co/bEYRgMogI1
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 29, 2020
It sounds mad on the face of it, but Saracens will be the focus of every game next year. Still a world-class outfit oozing talent, they will be in huge demand. Conversely, the club will just want to concentrate on rugby. If Wray buys the commercial rights, he can control the Saracens narrative. This might be worth it alone even if he needs to buy the rights to the other clubs in the process.
Once he has the rights to the Championship, then what? Sure, he gets to shield Saracens but we also have one of the brightest and most ambitious minds in all of rugby owning the Championship naming rights, IP, player and coaching appearances and critically, he could also decide who broadcasts the games.
When you have so much power in the Championship and your team is still the best in the country, operating outside of that pesky salary cap, you might be forgiven for thinking why bother going back to the Premiership at all?
Crisis club provide a helping hand https://t.co/b8LwdXR4eP
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 30, 2020
In particular, the broadcasting rights are of interest because when you take a step back and include recent speculation about Saracens trying to fill up the fixture list against international opposition and Super Rugby teams, combining these rights with the Championship might become very valuable indeed.
Saracens already have a link with CNBC, so why not send your boys on tour to China, USA and South Africa to make some real money?
What of the other two big players in all this though: the RFU and PRL? The RFU are in a very awkward position as it not only has to act in the best interest of its membership but also needs to consider its relationship with PRL and the England team.
Wray knows this, so expect the first price to be paid is the scrapping of the exceptional circumstances rule applying to the Championship. Secondly, international player release has always been a point of tension between the RFU and PRL. This friction simply won’t exist in the Championship as the owner of the league is the RFU.
Though to be fair Saracens will probably lay claim to more next season.
Jokes aside – a remarkable landmark for @HartpuryRFC https://t.co/UZGy4RAddN
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 29, 2020
The RFU could have two-tier access to England internationals, with Saracens players enjoying far more time with the elite set-up then their Premiership counterparts.
Perversely it might become more beneficial for a player not to play in the Premiership to avoid injury and the general grind of the league, but also because the England management like players they can spend more time with. It’s starting to sounds almost like a central contract!
The more the RFU enjoy the cosy arrangements with Saracens, the more likely they will consider a breakaway league – very Machiavellian I know.
Meanwhile, there might be some rather glum faces at PRL when the 2020/21 season starts. The land of milk and honey will be lacking at least eight England internationals that only months ago were starting in a World Cup final.
That’s a rather tough sell to any broadcaster when negotiating rights – particularly if there is no exceptional circumstances rule to protect the PRL from player drain and no prospect of one of the best teams on the planet returning. Add that to CVC’s 30 per cent slice of future revenues and it’s not looking too bright.
Who knows where this ends but it’s likely we have not seen the last of Mr Wray. Only very foolish people think we have.
WATCH: Damning report reveals the extent of the Saracens salary cap breaches in the last three seasons
Comments on RugbyPass
I like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
8 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
8 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
8 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
8 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to comments