New French Top 14 TV Deal

[Blue Voodoo]

Looks like top 14 have made a new TV deal for next 5 seasons

Worth € 70m p.a more than double this seasons rate

This has to be a concern in relation to more high level players being tempted abroad

[goreyguy]

unless something changes it's going to get very depressing with so many irish lads heading off..

can't blame them because you can't expect them to turn down the money.. I wouldn't expect anyone too.

[[Jackass]]

So what's the SKY Sports deal worth?

Time to negotiate exclusive coverage ASAP, FTA is not sustainable and must be stopped as soon as possible.

Yes, yes, I know it's good to grow the sport etc., but this is getting serious now. We should re-negotiate the SKY deal while the iron (fight) is hot, and try and get a few mill a season...

As a fan, it's our duty to subscribe too

[Blue Voodoo]

Think the French deal is with Canal + maybe we should give them a call ?

[Ruckedtobits]

As soon as we can find a further 50m Rugby fans, we'll be well set for those negotiations!

[[Jackass]]

As soon as we can find a further 50m Rugby fans, we'll be well set for those negotiations!

Doesn't help with the Welsh threatening to leave either....

Should have done exclusive deal when they had a chance...

Hate to be captain retrospect, but I did say at the time we needed to capitalise on the Sky / BT spat and do exclusive deal for max money and not half arse it in with Sky

[AdamK]

I don't mind if the money from the clubs comes from the tv deals. But let's be honest, it doesn't. It comes from the sugar daddies, that's the issue, and unless the irb look into professional salary caps then there's nothing we can do.

[[Jackass]]

I wouldn't agree with that, I mean, definitely sugar daddies are a major part of the problem, but put it this way, even without them the TV money puts a massive divide between finances. That TV deal is worth 5 million per club in the Top14.... what are the TV revenues per club in Pro12? I'd be surprised if we got 500k each...

When it comes down to counting the beans and trying to keep the likes of Seanie, Sexton and Heaslip, that extra 4.5million would go a lonnnnng way, before we even talk about sugar daddies.

I actually think a more effective solution would be a national cap. i.e 18 of your 23 in any match day squad must be home union players...not doubt the unions would jump all over this...it's no coincidence the French team are the worst in living memory when their league is filled with imports.

[edit] I hate to say it, but you win Premiership rugby. The only solution is a British and Irish league. We simply can't compete. The Welsh want out and will destablize the league at every opportunity, the Scots can't get 10k to a match, the Irish are thriving, but we simply don't have the population to compete commercially and aren't in a viable competition... it's over mannnn It's either a case of if you can't beat em, join em, or fight the tide as long as possible, until it becomes like football and we're virtually amateur in comparrison to the English and French... the tide has turned, the decisions that are made over the next 3 to 5 years will define where Irish rugby ends up over the next 100 ... that is the gravity of the situation I believe we are now in...

Similar to the Irish great depression, people refused to believe the extent to which the world was crumbling around them until the country was bankrupt and couldn't afford to pay next months wages... our choice is bankrupt ourselves trying to keep our players to remain competitive, or let them go and slowly watch as we fade away into obscurity.

Don't forget, in the 60's and 70's, League of Ireland football teams used to get 20,000 fans at games, the FAI cup final would sell out Lansdowne, but when Sky money came to English premiership, look what happened....

We're on a sinking ship lads, and the sooner we and the IRFU realise it, the better the chance there is we can save it, but it's time to call up PRL and arrange a meeting, sit at a table and say "ok, you win, what are your terms?" and take whatever slice of this billion pound pie we can get.

[Keith]

yay! more players gone. I really like the look of the future of European rugby. We can all start supporting French teams now, just like soccer fans from around the world supporting Premiership teams. I'll go order my Toulon shirt now.

[VGE]

I think it is a very bad news.
Except for the best irish, welsh, scottish, english players. And their agents or managers.



Au revoir.

[[Jackass]]

Thanks for the sympathetic view, but superb news for you!!

[ronk]

It's not especially good news for French club fans. Rich clubs already spend well. More money means a few more big names on big money, but mostly it means bigger paychecks for the guys already there.

There are dismissing returns if a lot of people have money to spend, you just get inflation.

[blaker]

Don't disagree with anything you've said the JA.
Before this the threats were the big boys, CA, Toulon, Toulouse and Racibg. This deal now makes the bottom team capable of outbidding Irish teams comfortably if they so desire

In past years (say up to 2 years ago) the players going to France were old SH players or no marks like Jamie Noone. It's now at a point where guys are being offered so much money that they are willing to sacrifice international rugby (mowen, flood, armitage, Sheridan, multi kiwis). I don't blame them but it's very reminiscent of football. Add the entire welsh team to that

If it goes the way it seems, 3 of Leinsters 5 "available" stars are gone with only Healy n Rob staying.

You say it gives the youngsters a chance - the French can now throw 2/300 k at a player like Ruddock/Tommy O Donnell/Luke Marshall without a second thought.

I disagree when you say we go to the PRL and say you've won. It's clear as focking day that we, SRU, SRU and PRL are focked without coordination. The rabo, even as it stands is inadequate

[neiliog93]

The traditionalists and the nay-sayers who opposed professional rugby in the mid-90's, as outdated and misguided as they were, might have had a point when they said that rugby would eventually go the way of football i.e rich club owners and rampant commercialism.

There is a lot of talk about Sky replacing their Premiership coverage lost to BT with a bid for the Pro12. Were that to materialise, it would undoubtedly boost our coffers. I'm not in denial though, clearly the sums involved would be miniscule when compared to the new French tv deal.

A Europe-wide salary cap appears to be the only solution to this problem, but is very unlikely as the players themselves do not want this, for obvious reasons. Nor do the clubs who can pay obscene salaries want this, for obvious reasons. Even the players at teams like Leinster won't want it as French money a) gives them the option of earning loads abroad and b) boosts their Irish contracts if they want to stay here. The only people who want it are some unions and the fans of the Celtic teams (maybe a few more sentimental French fans too). It ain't gonna happen.

The other mooted solution if to make rules regarding the composition of matchday 23's. This works in Ireland with central contracts but proposed laws in France making it compulsory that at least half a matchday squad are French has caused uproar and may not pass through due to the power of the clubs. Gradually, the LNR and the French clubs are becoming more powerful than the French Union - just as happened in football. We are slowly witnessing the demise of the international game to the subordination of the club game, due only to money.

[neiliog93]

As regards future scenarios, domestic Irish rugby will never fall as low as domestic Irish football. Despite there being more competitors, many countries comparable (and even smaller) than Ireland in population compete fairly well in European club football competitions, even with Europe's top leagues being awash with money. E.g's Cyprus, Greece, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Romania etc.

I think the likely end scenario is a pan-European competition dominated by French sides, with occasional incursions from the English (as is the case in European football), who would be better-placed to compete financially if not fully equal. I imagine the Irish provinces would be a bit like the Portuguese in football, capable of upsetting the best teams from other countries but vulnerable to losing our best players to foreign clubs due to the higher financial rewards on offer, and thus generally unable to mount a sustained challenge for the Heineken Cup or whatever European competition is in place. I still think we'd be capable of winning it once every while a lá Porto in 2004.

Clearly, this is a significant drop from our current level but I think comparing our future to domestic Irish football is a step too far.

[ronk]

A salary cap that we would have to agree with the English and/or French would inconvenience us more than it would restrict them.

Bad idea.

For all the doom scenarios, we should remember we were huge financial underdogs before and we have a system that's always be designed with the intention of being the poorer neighbour.

We can allow ourselves to fall behind and still be competitive. It might cost us dominance, but underdogs fits better.

[VGE]

Thanks for the sympathetic view, but superb news for you!!

I will have to pay more for my Canal+ subscription.
Players will play in France and have more money, probably they deserve it. referees will be more offend than actually by silly guys like Laporte or Boudjellal, but Irish kids will continue to be better "players" than our bodybuilders.

You know, it's great to see Wilko, Giteau, Sivivatu, Mac Alister, Sexton and many more in France. But it's great to share HCup vibrations. And Hcup is threatened (and maybe already dead)

It's great to see playing in Montferrand Domingo, Ric, Chaume, Jacquet, Jedrasiak, Bardy, Lapandry, Rado, Malzieu, Rougerie, Buttin, Fofana Nalaga, Nakaitaci and much more (all these guys have been playing in the ASM Academy). Will the future young guys of ths Academy have only an opportunity?

It's great to have a welsh rugby, a scottish rugby (i'm not afraid about ghosts), an irish rugby, an english rugby, and not only welsh, scottish, irish, english best rugby players playing in 5 or 6 "french" squads.

Long time ago, I was a football fan. Teams had each their own identity, style, etc. I'm not able to tell you the names of the National team players today. I was a Saint-étienne fan when I was a kid, I don't know who is playing there now. I think it will be the same very soon with rugby.



Au revoir.

[Oldschool]

In order to have a viable 6Ns competition each country needs some of their clubs competing in a high level league.
This effectively means the three leagues currently in existence meet the above requirement.
The French are sorted, which leaves the rest.
If you look at the only other practical option then just for arguments sake each country needs 2 guaranteed places in a combined league.
So 10 places are gone leaving 4 remaining say 6 if you have a 14 team league.
That's spare 6 is just not enough and relegation would be gone.
The Welsh are the key and the real problem here seems to be that they don't know what they want either the clubs or the WRU.

[Lar]

In order to have a viable 6Ns competition each country needs some of their clubs competing in a high level league.
This effectively means the three leagues currently in existence meet the above requirement.
The French are sorted, which leaves the rest.
If you look at the only other practical option then just for arguments sake each country needs 2 guaranteed places in a combined league.
So 10 places are gone leaving 4 remaining say 6 if you have a 14 team league.
That's spare 6 is just not enough and relegation would be gone.
The Welsh are the key and the real problem here seems to be that they don't know what they want either the clubs or the WRU.

You aren't seriously suggesting the PRL join the RaboPro12 are you?

[Kinger83]

Not everyone is happy with the new deal it seems..

http://thescore.thejournal.ie/toulon-mo ... 5-Jan2014/