'Big Boy' threat to Heineken Cup. Again!

[crumlinbob]

from Todays Guardian

English clubs say they can double £17m annual turnover while the French want bigger slice of the pie

The Heineken Cup quarter-finals this weekend will attract 120,000 spectators in four countries, but the future of European club rugby's flagship tournament is in jeopardy because of a dispute over the way it is organised and how an annual profit of €20m (£13.9m) is distributed.
Serge Blanco, the president of the French league, this week warned that his clubs were considering boycotting the tournament when the Paris Accord, which binds the four home unions, France and Italy to the Heineken Cup and the second-tier European Challenge Cup, finishes at the end of next season.

The Guinness Premiership clubs are also considering their position, but whereas a few months ago it was believed that the French and the English were acting in unison in threatening to pull out of the two tournaments unless they were given a greater say in how they were run, together with a larger slice of the profits, it has emerged this week that the two organisations have different goals.
Blanco claims that France are effectively subsidising the Celtic countries and deserve a larger portion of the proceeds. The chief executive of Premier Rugby, Mark McCafferty, maintains that the English clubs are concerned not with getting more money at the expense of others but making the organisers, European Rugby Cup Ltd, more commercially aggressive and substantially increasing the value of the Heineken Cup to the benefit of every participating country.

English clubs in the Heineken Cup receive an average £300,000 each year, the same that they receive for taking part in the Powergen Cup. They receive around £2m each for taking part in the Premiership. McCafferty admits: "Pulling out of Europe would not financially imperil our clubs, but even though we have set a deadline of the end of the season for changes to be made in the way ERC is run, we are not making a boycott threat.

"We would clearly have to consider our position if nothing happened, but we believe in the Heineken Cup. Our intention is solely to make it an even more successful tournament: talk about our looking to take over the ERC board and divide most of the profits between England and France is a nonsense. We believe that the current annual turnover of €25m (£17.3m) can virtually be doubled and we want to give the lead in stimulating that growth."

Blanco wants the French and the English, who, he argues, generate most of the money, to gain a controlling influence. He also wants Celtic representation cut. "The omnipotence of an ERC board which chokes everything is finished," he said. "It refuses to be accountable and we do not want to submit to its will. We have been very well-behaved children up to now, but that is finished. There will be a revolution if they do not listen to us. I am sounding the alarm before it is too late."

The board is made up of two representatives from each country. The unions concerned each hold shares in ERC, not the teams who take part. One of the reasons Wales this year refused to sign an agreement binding them to the Celtic League for another four years was that they had heard the English clubs had offered Scotland £2m for their ERC shares and subsequent voting rights.

Wales and Scotland are not represented in this year's Heineken Cup quarter-finals, which will be played this weekend. Three clubs from England and France are there, along with Munster and Leinster. The Irish are leading the resistance to the French and English demands, which will be heard at a board meeting on April 11.

"In 10 years of the Heineken Cup, only once has an English or French team not won it," said Blanco. (Ulster won in 1999). "The Celts are profiting from us and that is unacceptable. We could boycott the Heineken Cup and our clubs would not lose money. We could do without it."

Eighty-five per cent of the profits are apportioned to the six unions regardless of performance. The remaining 15% is awarded on merit, but if Blanco's demand for a takeover is unacceptable to the Celts for obvious reasons, they also distrust the English clubs, feeling that they and France would take a disproportionate share of any extra revenue generated.

"We are not concerned with taking control of the board or taking more money at the expense of others," said McCafferty. "Our argument is that not enough is being done to enhance the commercial value of the Heineken Cup: more partners should be sought and there should be a sponsor for the Challenge Cup, a competition which is important but which does drain resources. We are not after a bigger slice of the pie: we want a bigger pie so that everyone gets more."

The Heineken Cup has been used for political ends since its inception in 1995. Scotland and England refused to join in its first year, and England stayed out in 1998-99 in protest at the way it was run, joined by Cardiff and Swansea. In the past, ERC has used a number of agencies to help secure television and sponsorship deals, but everything is now done in house.

"A business plan should be set up to cover the next five years," said McCafferty, a member of the ERC board. "We have outlined our plans to the Rugby Football Union and while they have not said change is impossible, it may be more difficult to convince them to back us.

"We want an answer from the board by the end of the season, because if we are to have fixture spaces to fill we will need time to look elsewhere. That is not what we want, but it seems everything in European rugby goes down to the 11th hour. No one has any reason to be suspicious of our motives."

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Stade Francais (one of the bigger clubs in Europe) failed to qualify for the quarter finals of this years HC prompting the French to demand a cut in Celtic League representation to almost guarantee them a quarter final place next year. Sport my arse!

[upfront_1979]

Blanco was a great player but he strikes me in these articles as an arrogant b*l*x!

[Duff Paddy]

Greedy vested-interest club owners in England and France in "we want more money and fock the rest of you" shocker.

Next!

[upfront_1979]

following his logic england and france should just set up their own competition. Would'nt see it being as popular as part of the magic of the HEC is the fact that its a pan-european competition.
If they do boycott I almost hope we let the Italians into the Celtic League as it would be a more european competition then!

[Flash Gordon]

The French clubs restrict sponsorship and therefore revenue because its illegal to advertise alcohol in France. If it weren't for France the property would be worth more (due to wider exposure) - so in point of fact, there's a case to suggest that the French should get LESS.

[Uncle Mort]

The French clubs restrict sponsorship and therefore revenue because its illegal to advertise alcohol in France. If it weren't for France the property would be worth more (due to wider exposure) - so in point of fact, there's a case to suggest that the French should get LESS.

Unless it was sponsonred by an non alcohol company - for example Peugot, Michelin etc?