The RFU, Prem Rugby and Champ Rugby are working towards the launch of the Gallagher Prem as a standalone “expansion” league for the 2029-30 season.
The Times revealed in 2024 that Prem Rugby had been formulating a vision to break away from the English pyramid since a moratorium on promotion and relegation was introduced during the pandemic.
Bruce Craig, the Bath owner, told The Times last year that a franchise league would secure the future of professional club rugby in England.
A ring-fenced league would provide security for club investors who are spooked by the prospect of relegation into the Champ. “They don’t want to risk it all on the pitch,” one source said.
A franchise competition would allow Prem clubs to centralise commercial operations and kit deals. Once the expansion league is agreed, Prem Rugby would then explore additional external investment, having sold 27 per cent of its commercial rights for £200million to CVC Capital Partners six years ago.
The franchise competition would start with the ten existing Prem clubs. Expansion clubs would be selected strategically and on the strength of a business and commercial case, as occurs in American professional sport.
The three governing bodies are working together to agree both the optimum entry criteria and to finalise a mechanism for removing underperforming clubs from the league.
It is possible that expressions of interest will be invited in 2027 to allow a sufficient runway before the league expansion. Also under discussion is what happens in the meantime with promotion and relegation, which is technically in place this season but unlikely to happen.
Rowe is no longer prepared to fund Exeter Chiefs out of his own pocket
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Tony Rowe, the Exeter Chiefs chairman, revealed the four-year timeline as he discussed plans to bring a new investor into the Devon club.
Rowe has provided financial backing for Exeter since 1993, guiding the Chiefs from the lower leagues to become champions of England and of Europe. Exeter posted an after-tax loss of £10.3million on Tuesday.
Having sold most of his companies, Rowe is no longer prepared to fund the club out of his own pocket. He has engaged Oakwell, the sports advisory firm, to find a new investor to drive the Chiefs into a franchise future.
“I’ve enjoyed my 30 years running the club and doing what I’ve done, and I made no bones about it, I used the association with Exeter Chiefs to promote my businesses and that’s how I could afford to put the money into the club,” Rowe told the BBC.
“But we’re at a stage now where we’ve got to move on, the club’s got to move on, we’re looking for an investor. If I was 20, 30 years younger and offered the opportunity I’d jump at it. It will need a bit of money over the next two or three years until we get to franchise, which is likely to be in the next four years, it’s going to still need financially supporting. We’re just having a look round with a number of interested people and then we can hopefully, in the first or second quarter, make some decisions on where we’re going to go.”
Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive, is supportive of the franchise plan for the Prem and he is on record as saying that promotion and relegation no longer works in its traditional form.
The Champ has been against the move, describing it recently as “anti-sport” because it removes aspiration and jeopardy. However, all three bodies are working towards find a solution.
The RFU council would need to approve a change to the structure of the English club game. A proposal will be tabled only once there is broad agreement, which could be as soon as next month’s council meeting.
The Prem could open the floor to expressions of interest in about 2027 from clubs who want to join the top division.
Kent, Birmingham and Yorkshire are key target areas for Prem Rugby expansion teams. The brand, fanbase and location of Worcester Warriors would also appeal to Prem Rugby, now they are back playing competitive rugby after going bust.
Worcester have returned to competitive rugby this season in the Champ, having gone bust in 2022
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Wasps are due to be relaunched as part of a building project near Sevenoaks. London Irish are also looking for a route back into competitive rugby. In England, that would be via a period of consolidation in the Champ.
A promotion-relegation play-off between the bottom club in the Prem and the Champ winners is still in the regulations for this season. But it is unfeasible that Prem and RFU executives would want to risk Newcastle Red Bulls being relegated, having just attracted such a high-profile backer.
As it happens, the prospect this season is minimal. The only two clubs who applied to participate in the promotion audit were Ealing Trailfinders, who are top of the Champ but annually fail to meet all the off-field criteria, and Doncaster Knights, who passed the assessment last year but are 11th in the league.
Worcester are in contention for a Champ play-off place and would pass the criteria but they did not apply for the audit. They only returned to professional rugby this season and were not ready by the December 1 deadline. Hence a desire to give any expansion team a runway into the top flight for 2029-30.