OLIVER BROWN
Absurd idea of five-yearly play-off for promotion and relegation is an attempt to satisfy private equity giant
Just as the Premier League once drew derision for the gimmick of a “39th game”, a money-spinning extra match that could be staged anywhere from Dubai to Dallas, English rugby union risks the same lurch into absurdity with the suggestion of a five-yearly play-off to decide who deserves to join the Premiership and who should tumble through the trapdoor.
Any principles of meritocracy have been forgotten in the rush to find a compromise between “ring-fencing”, where Premiership clubs’ top-flight status is protected indefinitely, NFL-style, and the norm of annual promotion and relegation, which creates inconvenient uncertainty for owners seeking long-term investment.
As such, talks between the Rugby Football Union and the clubs have alighted upon the risible halfway house of a play-off every five years between the bottom of the Premiership and the top of the
Championship. Picture the scenario: Ampthill, once a Bedfordshire village club and now one of the most upwardly mobile in England, go on a stunning tear in the 2021-22 campaign, winning the Championship title by 15 points. But fans know from the outset that it is all in vain, given that the next flight does not leave until 2025.
In any case, Ampthill will find that their face does not fit under the latest proposals, which mandate a preliminary check to ensure that they have a Premiership-worthy stadium. Some hope: this is a club where supporters still lean against wooden fences. With Championship clubs already confronting a 50 per cent cut in funding from next season, English rugby is turning into a polarised landscape.
The haste to reach a solution can be explained by the need to satisfy CVC, the private equity giant that has already invested £200million to expand the Premiership’s commercial operations. Should clubs hit the targets that CVC set them over the coming years, their owners will reap a financial whirlwind. But if they are truly doing their due diligence, they might care to dwell more deeply upon who and what CVC is.
This is not some altruistic enterprise but a company that, in its 10 years in charge of Formula One, came to be known for pitilessly sweating the brand. Having acquired a majority stake in 2006 for £1.4billion, it amassed an estimated £3.5billion over the next decade.
The verdict of one senior figure upon the eventual sale? “All their actions have been taken to extract as much money from the sport as possible, and put in as little as possible.” Before selling its soul, rugby should at least heed the warning.