Most of the time News Corp is able to hide it’s own self interest but there are times, no matter how much they try, the need to spin things in News Corps favour wins out. One such occasion is the on going dispute over European Rugby Union competition. For those of you who may not be aware the dispute is between the English and French clubs and the rest of the Rugby playing countries within the current competition structure. There are many sticking points but needless to say it is all about money and who controls the game, which probably are two side of the same coin.

This dispute has been dragging on for ages and yesterday there was a meeting in Dublin intended try and resolve things. As a result of the meeting the following headlines were produced by the leading Rugby reporting papers of England:

“New European Cup Finally Agreed” – The Times

“Unions meet Anglo-French clubs halfway on future of European rugby” – The Guardian

“Premiership Rugby chief Mark McCafferty says the biggest hurdles ‘are yet to come‘ for European club rugby” – The Daily Telegraph

There is one more piece of evidence you must know before judging the validity of these headlines. The current European competition is broadcast by Sky Sports, 40% owned by News Corp. News Corp also owns The Times. The new Anglo-French competition would not have Sky Sports as their broadcaster. With this in mind now reread the headlines and ask yourself which paints a picture that favours the current status quo.

To be fair to the Times there report does highlight that there are still some sticking points i.e control of the competition and the broadcasting rights but this is well down the report. And yes these are still the biggest sticking points as this is all about the money and who controls it – so perhaps you might have thought they should have come a lot higher in the piece. However, the headline really does reflect any of this and would lead the casual reader to think that everything has been sorted. It clearly hasn’t.

As with everything we have personal prejudices and I’m no different. I believe that BT Sport’s coverage of the Rugby this year has been first rate. They have thrown money at it and have added real interest to the sport. Sky has always seen Rugby as adjunct to their real bread and butter – Premiership Football and really let things slide. Should BT Sports get more Premiership Football then this balance may change but at the moment they are the home of Rugby Union club competition.

It is amazing what a bit of competition can do to improve things and this is what BT Sports appear to be doing. Plus they have just as deep pockets as News Corp so won’t be bullied by them like all the other rivals have in the past. Long may this continue. However, when your competition owns much of the print media you can expect things to get a little rough if you go up against News Corp’s self interest.

As for the pawns in all this European Rugby Union we have reached the point which was always going to happen. The professional clubs need money to progress and the freedom to go out and generate that money. This means that the old structures, those run by the national unions, are going to collapse, possibly along with a number of the current clubs over which they preside. What will probably come out of all this is a British Isles, the geographical term for the archipelago off the west coast of mainland Europe, club competition and a French club competition. They, in turn, will play each other at a European level. It will take some time to get to this point and there will be an awful lot of blood spilt along the way but it is the only way forward. As for the national unions – well their role will be to look after the amateur and International games as well as law making and refereeing. The professional game will be left to it’s own devices.

Simon Marchini
www.simonmarchini.co.uk