awec wrote: » If Premier don't renew (a real possibility I'd have thought) then Eir most certainly won't renew.
The Inbetween is mine wrote: » It would be interesting to know how much you'd have to pay to secure the rights..it was 9 broadcasters with a reported cost of 15-20 million.... You'd have to think the broadcasting companies would be in a stronger bargaining position these days as frankly, the product as it stands is dire.
Cookiemunster wrote: » Not necessarily. The reason Premier got it was because Sky pulled out when the Irish rights were sold to Eir. Sky wanted both packages or nothing.
Tigerandahalf wrote: » The UK rights are not very lucrative. The reason Sky were rejected the last time was that Eir were willing to pay so much for the Irish rights only and the pro14 accepted their offer with the hope of getting more money for the UK. Sky then pulled their offer and Premier Sports took up the UK offer knowing they had little competition. I can't see Sky coming on board just yet. They may be holding out for the bigger fish of the CVC deal with the 6N, etc. With the virus ongoing and S Africa not going to be fully vaccinated by year end will we have any S African teams next season? It is not a great time to be selling the rights. The league still needs to sort out its match times. Too often we see 2 games involving Irish teams start at the same time. They need to be staggered. I have to say I don't find Eir's coverage very good. The studio stuff lacks something. I miss the BBC coverage. They had good commentators and their ScrumV show was very good. I still think we need a British/Irish league. If the S Africans want to join as well it would make things interesting.
Tigerandahalf wrote: » You could see great rivalries develop between the likes of Munster and Leicester etc.
sebdavis wrote: » One thing it is not the UK teams. The UK includes Scotland/Wales/Northern Ireland. The English Premiership will not join with the ProXX teams and I don't think they ever will. If you talk to the English they think the Premiership is a brill league and some will even question why the clubs are bothered with Europe. In reality it is far from it and is not growing at all. The deal with BT shows this when they reduced the money significantly. I was talking to English fans and they tried to cover up saying this was brill as going out to market would mean more money. I said it was probably the opposite and going to market would show the true value of league. In the end the Premiership ran back to BT because I expect they tried with Sky and they didn't bother. The English league is also locking down, once Sarries and I think Ealing get up they will shut up shop. Ealing have a millionaire backer so they want them in. It will be 14 clubs and relegation will be shut down. The ProXX needs to fight it's own corner. The introduction of SA teams is great as in SA they are used to paying to watch rugby, so this will have a big influx of money. It also means Super Rugby will get a significant hit. If they can set up the Argie team in Spain as suggested the league really could pull in a good viewership which means the likes of Sky etc will pay to put it on. What the Irish clubs dont want is to dilute the European cup because that is a payday they need. A stronger ProXX product to sell and Europe to continue is the best to drive revenue for IRFU
awec wrote: » The European cup is going to change. The Premiership is moving to 13 clubs. It is inevitable that European games will be cut to facilitate this. If it moves to 14 there'll be even more drastic changes.
awec wrote: » Sure, I don't doubt you, I'm just saying as the Premiership expands Europe will change. The English and French will make Europe fit around their own plans for their own league, unlike the Pro14 they aren't willing to throw their own product under the bus to facilitate European competition.
sebdavis wrote: » Of course they will but they still take a hell of a cut from Europe. The problem is the majority of the English and French clubs know they won't win in Europe or have a chance of winning it so they just b*tch & moan about it. The fans then say it is a useless competition because they know they will never win. Also the lack of knowledge about the Irish team is hilarious, they get a half assed story from the likes of BT and inflate it. So Sexton never plays etc.... The ProXX needs to build its own league and then keep as much of the pie in Europe as possible....
awec wrote: » I think this is an overly simplistic view on things. The majority of Pro14 clubs (basically all but 1) have pretty much no chance of winning in Europe either. The reason fans don't complain is that the European games represent the handful of times a year where fans get to see their teams at full strength, a welcome break from the glorified A teams fielded the rest of the year in the league. Sexton barely plays for Leinster in the league, it's hardly a secret. Many of the criticisms of the Pro14 are valid, whether we like it or not.
sydthebeat wrote: » An english 14 team league, a French 14 team league, a celtic bokke 16 team league. 5 English, 5 French, 6 celtibok teams (meritocratic determination) in a 16 team HC. SIMPLES
thomond2006 wrote: » A reduction in the Proxx regular season means the top players will play a higher percentage of that regular season. That would be an improvement.
bilston wrote: » True If we went to an 18 team league, play each other once plus semi final and final, that's 19 games, which I think is 3 or 4 less than a normal Pro 14 season The IRFU could run a separate Inter Pro campaign to fill in the missing weeks
Zzippy wrote: » As long as we have player welfare guidelines from IRFU, we are not going to see full strength teams regularly (from the likes of Leinster and Munster) in the league. You can moan all you like, but it's not going to happen, it wouldn't happen in a B&I league either, the players minutes will still be managed. What's your solution - fewer international games or make the players play more?
awec wrote: » A 16 team HC is awkward because it forces pools of 4 when then means 6 pool fixture weeks. I don't think 6 pool fixtures is going to survive too long with the expansion of the Premiership. They could have an 18 team HC with 6 pools of 3, which means just 4 fixture weeks. Then top 6 through plus 2 best runners up for the QF.
sydthebeat wrote: » i absolutely hate the aspect that some runners up qualify and some dont. it takes the meritocracy from the completion as you essentially are in competition with teams you do not play against. 4 x 4 groups is a clean competition. 9 rounds in total to win it, no extra games above any beyond what currently exists. if the premiership pushes out to an extra 4 week competition (2 extra teams added) then it will have to be done with an overarching player welfare system which limits playing minutes regardless of the competition, so including test and euro level as well as domestic. the top14 league in 18/19 extended from 25 august to 15th june, which is 294 days or 42 week season. that's a 26 game regular season, and thats what the premiership are looking at if they go to 14. the celtic league are able to do 14 teams with 5 less regular season games, when its conferenced. The season last 4 week less. At some stage either player welfare wins out and squads are bigger, or changes are made to the leagues structure to reduce games. Expanding the premiership while reducing players game time is a hard circle to square. At least the ProXX has the ability to conference.whats more attractive financially to an english club? an extra 4 premiership games (2 home, 2 away) or an extra 2 pool games in the HC, home and away?
