Latest news with #franchiseLeague
CNA
2 days ago
- Sport
- CNA
World Rugby chief says franchise leagues need to allow test availability
SYDNEY :Test rugby remains the pinnacle of the game and any franchise league that does not offer players the chance to play it is unlikely to attract top talent, World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin warned on Tuesday. The R360 global franchise league, which is fronted by former England centre Mike Tindall, is scheduled to launch in 2026 and media reports have linked it with big-money offers for top rugby union and league players. Gilpin said he was open to dialogue with R360 and that World Rugby welcomed any investment into the sport as long as it created a more financially sustainable game for players and the "wider ecosystem". "Our position is whatever competitions arise, we know players want to play international rugby," he told reporters at the launch of the ticketing programme for the 2027 World Cup. "It's not true of every sport, but in our sport, the international game is the pinnacle of the game. "We've got a really quite tricky calendar in global rugby, so it's really important that whatever is getting endorsed and invested in gives players that opportunity. "And I think anything that doesn't give players that opportunity, players will vote with their feet on it." World Rugby's Regulation 9 enforces the release of players for test rugby from any recognised competition and Gilpin said the governing body would continue to insist on their availability for all international windows. That would include men's and women's British & Irish Lions tours, both Rugby World Cups and the Sevens competition at the Olympic Games. "Whatever new concepts, whether it's R360 or otherwise, that are being discussed with players ... that whole concept of player release for defined international windows in our sport is key," he said. "We've got to make sure that whatever competitions players are going to go and play in, they can play in those big moments because they want to. And the fans ... want that."
BBC News
03-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Players would risk England futures in rebel league
England players who participate in rugby union's prospective new breakaway league will risk becoming ineligible for the national are under way for a revolutionary franchise league that hopes to attract the game's biggest competition, known as R360, is scheduled to be launched next year, with benefactors from across other sports reported to be interested in insist the new league will not clash with international rugby and say players will be able to continue to represent their countries in tournaments such as the Six any player who quits the Premiership to compete in R360 risks curtailing their international the terms of the new Professional Game Partnership (PGP), the Rugby Football Union is contractually obligated to only pick players who play in the Premiership. Sources have told the BBC there are no plans to rewrite the terms of the PGP - an eight-year deal for which was announced in September 2024 to much fanfare - with one leading administrator saying there is "zero chance" R360 will get off the ground or attract the players plans for the rebel league continue to develop in a bid to overthrow rugby union's world a prospectus seen by the BBC, R360 says it can give the sport its "Super Bowl moment" with a global league that would be the "pinnacle of rugby". With an aim to attract the top 300 men's and women's players in the world, the franchise competition would be played predominantly in the summer in some of the world's major cities - with London, Paris, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Buenos Aires and Cape Town all mentioned.R360 has also vowed to "unlock the potential of the women's game", with American superstar Ilona Maher featuring on the promotional a number of senior figures in the game believe the proposals lack substance and will struggle to get either the approval needed from the governing bodies or the required investment."It's the world 12s again," one source told the BBC, referencing a shorter format of the game that never materialised., externalR360 plans to take place in two blocks – April to June and August to September – and while this would not clash with the men's Six Nations or the November internationals – it would overlap with both the southern hemisphere Rugby Championship and the Women's Six Nations.R360 is headed up by World Cup winner Mike Tindall and former Bath captain and director of rugby Stuart says in the prospectus that R360 is being launched as a response to a club game that has "failed to capture the same level of interest and investment as international rugby"."Clubs around the world are feeling the strain and are being propped up by the international game," Tindall added."Rugby's lack of innovation and ability to change risks losing its appeal to new audiences and its younger market."
