Clubs rage as lost TV deal costs them £Ms

PREMIERSHIP clubs and players face further financial meltdown after it emerged that the offer of a more lucrative TV deal from BT Sport in January was rejected.

BT Sport tabled a 30 per cent increase on their current six-year, £200m deal during an exclusive negotiating period with the league.

However, that was shelved in the belief that Sky Sports would make a far higher bid.

Premiership Rugby CEO Darren Childs and his executives were convinced Sky were ready to launch a dedicated rugby channel and were stunned when the broadcaster’s interest cooled.

BT Sport’s initial offer would have provided a £10m uplift on their current £33m-a-year deal, which expires in 2021.

Prospects of a significant drop in TV revenue could send some hard-up clubs to the wall.

Childs now finds himself under huge pressure from furious clubs.

One senior executive said: “BT Sport were told their offer wasn’t wanted, but Darren didn’t go to the club owners and three weeks later Sky decided that while they might look at Premiership rugby as part of their overall package next year, they weren’t prepared to pay very much for it.”

The executive added:

“Premiership Rugby have made a pig’s ear of it. You can say they’ve been unlucky with coronavirus, of course they have, but they could have done the deal with BT Sport before coronavirus – and it was a very good deal. Instead, Childs assumed the league was turbo-charged because of CVC and he’s found out that it’s not. “He was being aggressive in the market place, thinking Sky would come in with a new rugby channel on which Premiership Rugby would be their main week-in, week-out content, but once Sky got wind of the fact there was no BT to compete against, any chance of big money went out of the window. It’s hard to see how that position can be retrieved.” With clubs facing multimillion-pound losses, players could take another hit. Our source added: “If players believe they might get their 25 per cent back, they’re not. I know of one club that has cut some wages by 50 per cent and if I were in a player’s position now, I’d be thinking 75 per cent of something is better than 75 per cent of nothing. “There are at least three clubs who could quite easily go down and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some marquee players leaving. “Clubs are in breach of contract so they have every right to walk away if they can maintain earnings elsewhere, so I think you’ll start seeing a voluntary exodus, especially with Japan seriously ramping up their league.”