The governance of English domestic rugby union is set for a revamp through a new long-term partnership between the RFU national governing body, the top-tier Premiership Rugby competition and the Rugby Players Association (RPA) body aimed at creating financial stability for the professional game.
The three organisations have teamed up to create a new Men’s Professional Game Partnership (MPGP) after 18 months of collaboration.
To lead the eight-year partnership, a new Professional Rugby Board (PRB) has been established to replace the Professional Game Board to bring all rugby decisions under one roof to oversee the strategy. The PRB will have an independent chair and two further independent members.
The RFU and Premiership Rugby will each have three voting members including the RFU’s newly appointed board member Wayne Barnes. The RPA will have two seats on the new board (one voting and one observer) to involve players in the decision-making process.
The funding deal is across two four-year cycles with a guaranteed £33 million ($43.4 million) per season for the first cycle, moving to a profit share in the second cycle of 26% of the RFU’s Profit Before Rugby Investment (PBRI).
The trio will collaborate on several joint initiatives to grow revenues and manage costs in the overall system.
Notably, this will include a joint marketing agreement to grow the domestic game commercially by increasing attendances and TV viewership.
A salary cap will also be introduced from the 2025-26 season, as well as the implementation of an independent Financial Monitoring Panel (FMP) to monitor financial stability across Premiership Rugby.
The FMP is currently chaired by Nigel Boardman and is already in operation for the 2024-25 season.
Additionally, the RFU Council agreed there would continue to be a two-match home and away play-off between the bottom-placed Premiership club and the winner of the second-tier Championship, “provided that that latter club meets the Minimum Standards Criteria in place at the relevant time.”
The parties said this continues to allow for promotion and relegation, “but also balances the careful financial challenges of clubs in those leagues and ensure that promoted clubs can sustainably compete.”
Bill Sweeney, Rugby Football Union chief executive, said: “This eight-year commitment will reshape the rugby landscape and reset the professional game to support, showcase and fund our game for the next decade and beyond.
“We have spent the last two years interrogating the data and listening to all parts of the game to understand what we need for rugby to grow in the future, how all parts of the system interact and support each other, and where we need to focus and allocate our investment for the best outcome.
“Despite the RFU having £150 million revenue losses through Covid, and a £30 million increase in operating costs over the last four years due to inflation, we are in a stable financial position.
“We have reached a significant milestone in turning our spend into the professional game into a true investment partnership with shared strategy, goals, and risks.
“This is not only a Men’s Professional Game Partnership, but also part of a broader partnership we have created together that joins and supports all parts of the game, international, domestic, community, players and investors, men and women, boys and girls.”
Simon Massie-Taylor, Premiership Rugby chief executive, added: “The new Professional Game Partnership is fundamental to the next phase of English club rugby.
“We have worked hard with the RFU and RPA to provide more financial stability, better governance and a joint high-performance plan that will help make the men’s England team and the Premiership clubs as successful as possible.
“What we have learnt from the challenges of the last few years is how important healthy clubs and a successful men’s England team are to the rugby eco-system - and also how important it is to work in partnership with the players, the governing body and other rugby stakeholders.”
