Rugby Union addresses struggles with new joint venture
The Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby and The Rugby Players Association have joined forces to create a new Men’s Professional Game Partnership (MPGP) after 18 months of discussion.
The eight-year joint venture aims ‘to stabilise and transform the professional game and have a long-term positive impact on community rugby.”
The funding deal spans across two four-year cycles with a guaranteed £33m per season for the first cycle and transitioning to a profit-sharing in the second.
A new Professional Rugby board (PRB) has been established to oversee the partnership, replacing the previous Professional Game Board, allowing all decisions to be debated and made in one place by an independent chair and two independent members. This will hope to allow for more synergy over the likes of social media and ticketing promotion.
The RFU and Premiership Rugby both have three voting members, including the newly elected RFU Board Member Wayne Barnes, a former professional referee. The RPA has been given one voting member and one observer to ensure that all players remain central to all decision making.
Several joint initiatives have been agreed upon to grow revenue and manage costs. These include commercial growth through a landmark marketing agreement which puts players at the forefront of efforts to drive club attendances and grow television audiences and social following.
The parties are ‘committed to closer alignment and information-sharing to support players welfare and management across the professional game.’
An independent Financial Monitoring Panel (FMP), chaired by Sir Nigel Boardman, has been implemented to examine financial stability within the Premiership, providing confidence and stability each season.
Additionally, it has been agreed that a new salary cap formula will be implemented from 2025/26 season, including a review of the current salary cap credit system.
Bill Sweeney, RFU CEO said, “This will reshape the rugby landscape and reset the professional game to support, showcase and fund our game for the next decade. We have spent the last two years interrogating the data to understand what we need for rugby to grow in the future and where to allocate our investment.
“Despite the RFU having £150m revenue losses through Covid, and a £30m increase in operating costs over the last four years due to inflation, we are in a stable financial position.
“This is not only a Men’s Professional Game Partnership, but also part of a broader partnership we have created together that joins and supports all parts of the game, international, domestic, community, players and investors, men and women, boys and girls.”
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