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The Kurtley Beale-Wasps deal is an alarming indicator of what is on the horizon and that is a cannibalisation of the global rugby game to suit that of England’s Rugby Football Union.
There is little doubt the RFU are taking note of how the English Premier League dominates the global football TV market by consistently signing the highest concentration of talent. Fair play to them – it’s a professional game, and it’s within the rights of anyone to be competitive.
Whist the French Top 14 also pay significant salaries, I fear the RFU have a greater vision globally than the French, as evidenced by the English match scheduled for the US.
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That match is not being played there in the spirit of altruism; it’s there to indicate to the burgeoning professional US Rugby market where the real opportunity lay for professional players and for US Rugby fans to tap into the TV deal. Perhaps Pro Rugby in the US may piggy back a deal with NBC off the RFU deal? Perhaps not. But that deal shows that the RFU have no interest in developing the local US game, just promoting their game.
Now the RFU’s team England benefits by having the global talent playing with their local talent but also enjoys the added bonus of global talent, ie Beale, potentially not being available to play against England; divide and conquer all over again.
Do you expect World Rugby to step in? I don’t, they remain as closed and secretive as the Masons! As much I would assume you detested the Rugby World Cup, and its architects, 20 years on we now see professional teams on every continent of the planet as the Rugby World Cup desired. However the Rugby World cup did not want to see these sides competing against each other for each other’s talent, at the risk of cannibalising one market for the next, without a cohesive global plan for the game.
The Rugby World Cup had its faults but the idea of a global body negotiating global TV rights for the game was not one of them as it could protect a one Union from becoming too dominant as the RFU ambitions appear to be.
And go the Reds!
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.