Clubhouse chat - The RFU have a plan...........

English rugby is plotting a revolution of the professional game with a franchise model that will abolish relegation but include promotion, to expand the Premiership.
Telegraph Sport can reveal that the plans, which would mark the most significant changes to the domestic game since the dawn of professionalism in 1995, are already being drawn up in the hope of ratification before the start of next season.
While clubs would still be free to explore their own sponsorship deals such as stadium naming rights, a franchise structure would see a centralisation of commercial deals. Currently the league negotiates its TV and title sponsor deals as one, but the new system would see a significant increase in league-wide agreements. Details are due to be formalised in the coming months.
Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive who recently survived a vote of no confidence, is understood to be in favour of the proposals, with his survival last month crucial to their progression.
Promotion will be a key pillar of the plans, seen by Telegraph Sport, with geographical expansion and financial sustainability two recurring concepts – as well as added incentives for entry to the Premiership from the Championship.
It is understood that further governance reform is in the works, with executives keen to create a role with “commissioner-like powers” to run the league. Centralisation of commercial rights – for example, with all clubs using the same kit manufacturer – is also part of the project.
The plans outline how the league’s executives desire a Premiership of at least 12 clubs, with 14 or even more up for consideration.
Relegation will be abolished in the new vision, with acceptance growing in English rugby’s corridors of power that potential investors are being turned off by the presence of such jeopardy.
With three clubs having gone bust in 2022-23, Premiership Rugby’s belief is that clubs can no longer attract the kind of investment required while the threat of relegation exists. This is despite recent improvement in investment conditions such as greater financial regulation, the Professional Game Partnership, a men’s professional rugby board and the imminent signing of a long-term, increased television deal.
“Relegation has become a financial millstone around the neck of clubs,” said a source close to the discussions. “The instability it breeds has led to short-term decision-making, investor uncertainty, and, in many cases, financial ruin. Persisting with a system that restricts investment and prevents long-term growth is no longer an option.”
It is understood that the new plan has been devised by Premiership Rugby alongside members of the RFU men’s professional rugby board. All are thought to be fully aligned with the drafts while support was unanimous amongst Premiership clubs.
Now the plans will be presented to the RFU council in both June and September, with the Premiership understood to be open to a multiple-stage sign-off.
Promotion and relegation one of thorniest issues
The sticking point for the revolution is that “promotion and relegation” has developed into one of English rugby’s thorniest issues.
The RFU Council, under pressure from Championship clubs who are governed separately from the Premiership, has long been reluctant to abolish the concepts entirely, for fear of preventing aspirational clubs from reaching the top flight, creating a closed shop and preventing the “next Exeter” from emerging. The Chiefs earned promotion to the Premiership for the first time in 2010 and since then have won the Premiership twice as well as the Champions Cup in 2020.
The hope, however, is that the RFU Council - as well as the Championship clubs - may be persuaded by this latest promotion-and-relegation offering, given that all previous iterations have abolished both elements.
The blueprint would do away with relegation but keep promotion alongside revised minimum-standards criteria, so that the Premiership can focus on growth and expansion. The league is keen to establish a presence in untapped rugby strongholds such as Yorkshire, Kent and Cornwall as well as other top-flight professional rugby black holes.
The Premiership’s thinking around updating its minimum-standards criteria has taken inspiration from the Rugby Football League’s grading system that saw social-media followers and match attendances contribute towards promotion and relegation, alongside other metrics.
“Revenue performance and potential, ⁠financial backing, number of fans, a high-performance plan (with track record), regional presence and brand strength could all come into the promotion criteria,” said another source with knowledge of the blueprint. “It will be about having a business plan, not a tick-box audit list.”