Now RFU must find TV deal for ALL clubs

THE new terrestrial broadcast deal struck between the Premiership and ITV is good news, but also long overdue.

Disappearing off terrestrial television for half a season at a time when adult male playing numbers in England have plummeted was a recipe for terminal decline. At least this deal provides the first layer of bricks to shore-up a wall which is in danger of collapsing.

Four live games, plus the 2022 Premiership Final, and also a weekly highlights programme starting on ITV on January 30, is not the worst result. However, irrespective of the Premiership deal, the RFU needs the terrestrial broadcast footprint to be bigger than the seven live Premiership games agreed for the two seasons from 2022 to 2024.

It should negotiate for a terrestrial broadcaster – hopefully ITV – to also screen live European Cup games, so that rugby has a regular week-in-week out presence. It should also canvas for a weekly magazine programme

which shines a light on not just the elite end of the game, but on the Championship and community clubs so intrinsic to the development of England internationals.

It is a good start for Simon Massie-Taylor, the former RFU chief commercial officer, who was appointed as chief executive of Premiership Rugby in October.

With his background, Massie-Taylor should be well-informed about the decline in English rugby’s playing numbers.

It is also why it is crucial that when he talks about the ITV deal being “great news for the league, our clubs, and supporters, and the profile of rugby in England”, he is referring to the health and welfare of the seamless game from the national side down to the community clubs, and not solely about the vested interests of his new employers, the Premiership owners.