This weekend may turn out to be pivotal to the development of professional rugby in England.
Tomorrow afternoon some of the greatest names in the history of the sport will battle for survival among the elite in the Zurich Premiership. Harlequins, Northampton and London Irish are among the long established rugby ‘brands’ which face the drop into the obscurity of Division One.
Although they will receive a parachute payment, the relegated club is certain to struggle financially and many a meeting will have taken place this week as clubs prepare their doomsday scenarios.
Income from attendances, sponsorship and television is likely to fall to as little as 25 per cent of the current level and ambitious clubs such as Harlequins, who have embarked on a new grandstand at The Stoop, will feel the pinch more than most.
The issue that faces the relegated clubs is where to make cutbacks. There is only so much which can be achieved by laying off backroom staff - indeed it can be argued that effective marketing departments are even more important when the product on offer is a far harder sell - while over-pruning the player staff may prevent the swift return to the big time which is essential for long-term survival.
Not surprising then that many of the club owners who have pumped more than £100million into the game since it turned professional, would like to see a closed league with no relegation or promotion. That way they would be able to develop their investments safe in the knowledge that one disastrous season on the field wouldn’t see the whole thing go up in smoke.
That’s an entirely understandable viewpoint and one, we are told, which is gaining credence within the RFU where it is considered beneficial to the England team.
But here’s the issue. That a season can go into its final day with the championship and relegation places still to play for is exactly the sort of drama that makes us watch sport. Here is history in the making. These are the stories that winners and losers will remember forever.
Rugby Union has come a long way in a short space of time and this looks certain to go down as the most dramatic season ever. It’s that drama which is filling the stands and selling season tickets and that drama which would be entirely lacking in a closed league.
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Congratulations to Bernie Ecclestone, who picked up the award for his outstanding contribution to sport at last night’s excellent Sport Industry Awards in London.
Selecting candidates for such an award is never easy but there are few individuals in the UK or elsewhere who have such an impressive claim to being responsible for transforming the fortunes of a sport.
Ecclestone’s achievement has been to take a hugely glamorous but somewhat shambolic race series and, through the Concorde Agreement, instil the commercial discipline that is required to make it pay.
He has long appreciated the value of a consistent television product and has invested heavily to stay ahead of the curve and, although his experiment with value added pay per view television has been shelved for now, it can be seen as evidence of his vision.
Bernie Ecclestone has, of course, become fabulously wealthy and that seems to have made him the target of some sections of the UK media that still suffer to some extent from ‘tall poppy syndrome’ (OK so there’s probably a better phrase to use in relation to someone as diminutive as Ecclestone). But while he’s inevitably put noses out of joint along the way, the people who have worked for Ecclestone are remarkably effusive in their praise and genuine fondness for the man.
There are not many of us who, whatever business we are in, will ever become instantly identifiable by our first names, but say Bernie and there’s never any doubt who you’re referring to.
Ecclestone currently faces threats from a number of quarters, not least from the F1 teams who maintain that they’re off to do their own thing if they don’t get a better deal.
Yet on the positive side, F1 has become more competitive than for some time and that’s bound to be reflected in television audiences. New circuits are queuing up for a slot on the schedule and there’s a growing fascination in emerging markets which sponsors are desperate to penetrate.
It would be foolish to try to second guess the long-term future of F1 but last night’s award was recognition of the remarkable achievements of a man whose style has helped make him a true sports sector legend.
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Congratulations are also due to the organisers of the Sport Industry Awards evening, which gets bigger and more sophisticated by the year. Its status is reflected, in part, by the number of genuine sports celebrities who attend the event and rub shoulders with the foot soldiers of the industry.
The venue presentation and organisation were exemplary and it is a tribute to Nick Keller and his team at Benchmark that the sports industry in the UK now has an annual event which reflects the glamour and status of the sector.
