Stevie J wrote: ↑Tue Apr 13, 2021 3:24 pm
I may have said this previously, so forgive me if I have, but I once listened to the journalist Steve Mascord discuss the concept of promotion and relegation as 'Victorian'. Which it is both in
when the concept was introduced to sports leagues here as well as the work ethic notion that anyone through talent and application of sheer hard work could reach the pinnacle of their profession. The only issue is its completely out of whack with professional sports, especially nowadays. Football is the only sport that can sustain the requisite number of professional clubs for such a system; it is the exception not the norm. In Rugby only one country, France, has shown the joined up thinking required to create two fully professional leagues.
Money has taken hold of professional sports so much. Our expectations on and off the field have increased dramatically and the barriers to entry now are so high without ringfencing I'm not sure who could survive whilst funding an Academy, a Stadium with suitable matchday revenue drivers, all whilst trying to spend to a £5m+ salary cap, not to mention marquee players, coaches, Development Officers and the like.
We love the romanticism, sure, but Exeter aside (and lets not claim they are some great David versus Goliath story, please, they had a lot going for them) promotion is usually followed swiftly by relegation. No Championship club as currently constituted could survive. And I've not seen any proof (and interestingly on Twitter, some people such as Mick Hogan, CEO of Newcastle and Mark Evans ex CEO of Quins say this too) that there is commercial benefit in Relegation fights. There are no crowd bumps, no increased ratings. We at Irish saw this first hand with several fights against relegation. Fans didn't come back, they left in droves. And sponsors don't want agreements with clubs beyond a year if there is a chance of relegation. No relegation at least means commercial surety (or what passes in COVID world).
The Championship absolutely needs more funding, but RFU pennies are only going to help these clubs avoid shuttering. The RFU have enough money tied up in Professional Rugby that our grassroots are suffering. There just isn't a huge stack of cash to subsidise more failing clubs.
If we want Relegation, we need a proper second tier and that means we need a plan for one, to allow for a fully professional second tier similar to the Pro D2. I am no expert but from what I've seen I'm not sure there is even a whiff of commercial interest in the Championship and the Premiership itself it just trying to survive. They don't see the benefit of the second tier other than loaning out Academy kids. And you might say, well, why should they invest in clubs who might take their place.
If Prem Rugby, like the LNR, could come up with a masterplan for professional rugby I'd be shocked. So without a viable path to promotion and staying in the Prem, I'd be in favour of some form of limited promotion / licencing. But maintaining the status quo because maybe, like a Hollywood film, Ampthill or London Scottish might make it to the promised land is going to fail more times than not.
In 2002, Gretna FC was taken over by the eccentric Brooks Mileson and he funded this tiny club with no fans through to the SPL. Even to a cup final. Great memories for a time, but then the money ran out by 2008, Mileson passed away and the club was put into administration and then liquidated. London Welsh for a rugby example (and Scottish, and Richmond...) if you prefer but we keep holding up the rare successes and not the ruins of clubs that paid the price for their dreams of reaching the promised land. Exeter only succeeded in a rugby mad area with a built in fanbase and invested in their infrastructure including moving to and building Sandy Park four years prior to promotion.
Its just not enough to dream big and work hard anymore. Professional sport is money, its infrastructure, its self interest. I'm not sure why we think next time will be better because the odds are it won't be.
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