Pro12 eager to welcome a North American franchise

Martin Anayi, the Pro12 chief executive, has confirmed that the Pro12 may expand into North America.

Discussions are taking place between the Pro12 and US Rugby with a new broadcast deal for the 2018/19 season potentially coinciding with the addition of an American franchise.

"This is all about primary markets," Anayi told The Irish Times. "We can't be in England, we can't be in France, so where are the other big primary markets? There is a big continent called North America that everyone is looking at.

“Our unions believe in the same thing: that the best way for USA Rugby to become a tier-one nation is through our tournament.”

A North American franchise would require some personnel to be supplied by the Pro 12 unions. "The four unions can provide the coaches and administrative expertise," said IRFU chief executive Philip Browne last month. "We can do what is needed to get a franchise up and running pretty quickly."

Lessons can be learned from the unsuccessful Japanese franchise, which was rushed into Super Rugby this year.

TV deals

"The TV deals that are starting to come through in Japan for rugby have increased by a factor of 10 off the back of one win in the World Cup and what happened in the Olympics," Anayi continued.

The current Pro12 TV deal, which expires after the 2017/18 season, is worth €14 million, which is minuscule in comparison to the Premiership (€51 million) and Top 14 (€97 million).

“[America] is a massively developed TV market. Broadcasters like NBC, Fox and ESPN are falling in love with rugby.

"There are people like [former US captain] Dan Lyle who could make it work from a broadcast perspective, he is very close to NBC, so they have the right people, the right vision and a 2020 document which is all about growth.

"Dan Payne is there as the new US Rugby CEO, head coach at Life University where AJ MacGinty played, and he is a real rugby guy. Our scope can potentially be global with the diaspora of Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Italians.

A more immediate challenge for Anayi is to improve the tournament by ensuring internationals are able to play in it on a regular basis.

That links into ongoing discussions about the global rugby calendar, with Browne, who is representing the Pro12, recently stating there was no appetite to move the Six Nations from its current slot.

“I think he is softening on that approach,” said Anayi.

“A lot of it is about positioning because you have people in the southern hemisphere saying we got to wrap it up [into one streamlined fixture list after 2019].

“Like any negotiation, you got to set your stall out more robustly than where you are going to end up. I totally agree with Philip – why mess with a clearly successful tournament that funds a large proportion of what we do? And funds a large proportion of what the IRFU do.

“Bill Beaumont [World Rugby chairman] recently came out and said we could move it by three weeks.

"Our view, and this is shared by our chairman Gerald Davies, is that club rugby needs a better narrative. You got to start it, finish it and then go into international rugby. Or at least not constantly interject it with something else, whether that is Europe or international rugby.

“When you have the amount of internationals that go away it detracts more than it does in England or France because of the amount of home internationals in each team.”

Fewer matches

Anayi also revealed plans to restructure the Pro12 league into a conference system, with playoffs featuring six teams ensuring fewer matches.

“Ultimately, the players need to play less. The players are playing a ridiculous amount of rugby.

“The high-performance coaches and the players are saying ‘You are killing us – you are genuinely hurting the progression of club rugby by making us play so many games.’ It would be crazy not to listen to them.

“Do fans want to see 135 games a year or 125 games with internationals? My view is less is definitely more.”