Wales and nine other leading rugby nations have agreed to pool their commercial rights in a new venture, a move that reinforces their financial control of the sport and appears to remove any threat of relegation from the Nations Championship.
The Six Nations teams will combine with the SANZAAR sides – South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina – to create a company provisionally called F10, named after its 10 founding unions: England, France, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Italy, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina.
New company to drive commercial growth
The decision was reached at a meeting in Sydney two weeks ago, with a dedicated chief executive to be appointed to focus on "commercial exploitation". A right-management agency will also be established to aggregate commercial rights across several competitions.
"The Six Nations, Rugby Championship, Lions, Nations Championship, Rugby's Greatest Rivalry will all be marketed and taken to market in a consolidated fashion," Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney told journalists this week.
That consolidation would not take place until existing Six Nations rights agreements with ITV end in 2029.
"In effect, what we are creating is a commercial rights agency which sits underneath those 10 founding unions," Sweeney said. "We think that will result in a much better and more efficient approach to market and obviously with the intention of increasing overall valuations and growing the commercial side of the game."
Relegation fears appear over
Sweeney added that pooling the commercial rights of northern and southern hemisphere teams would "increase the revenue significantly" on broadcasting rights. Broadcast rights could be bundled, allowing one broadcaster to become the home of rugby.
However, there is concern that this power grab will push Tier Two nations further adrift. Japan and Fiji are involved in the inaugural Nations Championship only as guest nations, receiving a participation fee rather than a share of central commercial income.
Promotion and relegation, intended for the Nations Championship when first backed by World Rugby's council three years ago, will seemingly not apply to the F10 nations. This could benefit Wales, given their position near the bottom of the northern hemisphere table alongside Italy, where demotion could have had a catastrophic financial and sporting impact.
"There's a review group that has been set up by World Rugby and is chaired by Brett Robinson," Sweeney added. "They're looking at how the aspect of promotion and relegation can be set up. The basic premise is still the same, how that comes into effect needs to be sorted out."
Instead, either Japan or Fiji seem far likelier to make way for any new team in 2032. With emerging nations playing in the secondary Nations Cup, the number of fixtures against Tier One nations will continue to reduce, leaving World Cups as the only realistic meeting place.
"I actually think this is better for the tier-two unions because you've got guaranteed fixtures, you've got more game time happening and you've got clarity about what you can play," said Sweeney.
The RFU CEO also confirmed that Qatar would not host the finals of the 2028 Nations Championship due to unrest in the Middle East. Both France and Spain have expressed an interest, while another finals weekend in London is another possibility.
