Chief executive of the Welsh Rugby Union, Steve Phillips, said he would not support a new TV deal for the Six Nations tournament that didn’t ensure all games involving Wales were shown free-to-air by a terrestrial broadcaster.
With the respective unions in the company behind the tournament, Six Nations Rugby Ltd, having struck a £356m deal giving venture capital firm CVC Partners a minority stake in the tournament, talks are now under way on a new TV deal with speculation that some of the games from next season could be aired by a pay-for-view provider. This could see a blended offer with some games shown by say the BBC and ITV and others by a pay-for-view company like Amazon.
Mr Phillips, who this week was appointed permanent CEO of the union having been in an interim capacity since last September, said that it was “non-negotiable” that Welsh language broadcaster S4C wouldn’t have rights to show Wales games live under any new deal.
However, that doesn’t mean that all games involving Wales would be shown live by a terrestrial broadcaster through the medium of English.
The current deal with ITV and the BBC will end following the final game of the tournament when France play Scotland in Paris tonight.
The CVC deal, subject to regulatory approval which is expected to be signed off around September time, will see it taking around 15% of future commercial income from the tournament, as well as autumn internationals. The unions are confident that future commercials deals will more than offset the annual income stream for CVC.
The WRU, minus deal related costs, will receive just over £50m, over the next five years from the latest deal with CVC. Last year the private equity firm secured a minority stake in the Pro-14.
Mr Phillips said: “We are going to market on the Six Nations and the international season in November, but it is absolutely critical that we land S4C coverage here. That is non-negotiable for Six Nations and I think all my colleagues in the other unions have made it very clear on that as well. We have taken a similar view with the Pro-14 (S4C live games). So, S4C having Welsh rights is fundamental to us and also for the autumn. If you remember, Wales played England at Parc y Scarlets in the autumn and you could watch that on S4C or Amazon.
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“We’re open to bringing pay TV and we’re open to it staying on free-to-air. It’s getting the balance right. It’s not all of one or all of something else. I expect we could end up with a hybrid. It’s the commercial premium of pay TV versus the mass audiences of free-to-air. It’s getting the balance, which is the trick here. It’s not the maximum commercial deal, it’s a mi.”
On the £20m Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) funding, which Mr Phillips negotiated with NatWest Bank and was passed through almost equally to the four Welsh regions, he is still hopeful that it can be refinanced with a longer repayment profile. The loan was negotiated by the union with an interest rate of below 3%.
As its stand the regions will start incurring interest and capital repayments from this summer. Under the terms of CLBILS, for which the 海角视频 Government has provided an 80% guarantee to banks in the case of default, the £20m has to be repaid over the next three years. Funding for the 海角视频 Government for the game in England, has seen Premiership Rugby securing £59m in low interest debt. While the repayment terms haven’t been disclosed, it is understood to be at least ten years. That has put the Welsh regions at a commercial disadvantage in having to refinance in just three.
Mr Phillips said: “There was nothing in the recent Budget about CLBILS being extended (term period) and that was the opportunity to do so. Our efforts are now focused on our discussions with Welsh Government which are very positive and cognizant of what the 海角视频 Government and Scottish Government have done.”
If a deal on refinancing the £20m isn’t struck with the Welsh Government, Mr Phillips was asked if the union would consider taking on the repayment to NatWest itself, and then negotiate with the regions, through the Professional Rugby Board, new loans potentially repayable over more than a decade?
He said: “The first repayment [for the regions] is due in the first week of July so we, and are trying to work to that timescale . If we were to drift then because of process I could see a scenario, subject to board approval, where we might step in and try and help with that and pick it up again later, but I am confident of landing something with Welsh Government, but we need to go through the process.”
If the Lions tour to South Africa cannot take place the home unions don’t have pandemic related insurance cover.
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Previous Lions’ tours have generated several millions pounds for the respective home unions. While the unions don’t get a slice of match day ticket income from tour games, there is significant commercial income, including from TV deals and also from fans on official tours.
Mr Phillips said: “If there is a scenario within South Africa that we are behind closed doors, I would say it would be more likely than not there would be a very minimal return indeed to the Lions. I cannot give a figure as there are probably 15 scenarios being run. So you could have a scenario in South Africa where it’s fully behind closed doors which is unfortunately what we’ve seen in the Six Nations. There is a scenario of 25% crowds, but again we’re at the mercy of the South African government.”
He said while there would be income from televised games played behind closed doors, the income stream for the Lions would be impacted if fans from the home nations aren’t able to travel. He added: “The travelling fans are part of the Lions entity which forms parts of the overall commercial returns.”