Paywall casts a dark shadow over deal

‘Beware the money men,” we old-timers would mumble into our beers. “They will offer you riches but steal your soul.” Is this the day, then, the hedge-funders eye profits and damn traditions?

There was a time many of us would have raised pitchforks to fend off the City raiders, but those romantic and naive instincts have diminished. Rugby is a professional sport and it needs money.

That is the stark backdrop that has to be acknowledged in the wake of the £365million deal between the Six Nations and CVC Capital Partners.

In many territories the game is on its uppers, close to bankruptcy in some cases. Money is set to flow through those clogged arteries and that has to be a good thing, a sign of faith in the potential of the sport.

And here comes the “but”… In order to maximise a return on its investment, CVC will be a clamorous voice at the table when it comes to negotiating broadcast deals. It is right and proper that the Six Nations committee has made sure the investors have no right to proclaim on sporting issues such as new laws, onfield gimmicks, kick-off slots, kicking the ball in the air too much – if only…

If there is one aspect of this epoch-shaping deal that does raise grave concerns it is about the Six Nations going behind a paywall.

To my mind, it is now inevitable a significant part of the tournament will no longer be on free-to-air television once the current broadcast arrangements end this year.

The autumn window is another matter. Maybe that should be the neat divide. But putting any part of the Six Nations behind a paywall would do the sport a grave disservice. The tournament belongs in the living rooms of the many not the few.