Six Nations still looking for new title sponsor

SIX NATIONS big wigs are facing a race against time to find a new sponsor in time for the first round of matches in early February.

Six Nations Rugby, who run the competition from their base in Ireland, have been looking for a new title sponsor since discovering that Royal Bank of Scotland were not renewing their agreement.

The troubled bank, which has had the UK Government as it largest shareholder since the 2008 banking crisis, had been paying £11m a year to sponsor the Six Nations.

RBS told the Six Nations in June 2016 that they would not be continuing with their 14-year sponsorship giving them plenty of time to get someone else on board.

But since then the bottom has fallen out of the rugby sponsorship rights market, just ask Premiership Rugby who have got Aviva paying much less than their previous £5 million a season agreement.

Part of the problem can be attributed to the fact that Premier League football clubs can now have sleeve sponsors and are a much more attractive proposition to brands.

While another sticking point could be that the Six Nations are looking for a substantial increase in what RBS paid, with some sources putting it at around £17 million a year.