Leinster chief Dawson warns of dire consequences if TV revenue curbed

LEINSTER RUGBY chief executive, Mick Dawson, has warned there will be catastrophic consequences for the game in Ireland if Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan’s plans to make the Heineken Cup a ‘free-to-air’ event succeed.

Ryan wants to make Europe’s premier rugby club competition, the Cheltenham Festival and designated GAA championship matches available to all viewers who pay a TV licence.

Ryan has argued that Heineken Cup games involving Irish provinces are of “major national importance” and should join currently ringfenced events including both All-Ireland finals, the FIFA World Cup, the Rugby World Cup and Six Nations.

Currently broadcast exclusively live in Ireland by Sky, Dawson has argued that the loss of Heineken Cup pay-per-view revenue to the Irish game would set the game in this country back a decade.

He argued: “You're looking at a situation where there could be a huge hole in the budgets of the IRFU and we’re part of the IRFU family, to a certain extent. A lot of our funding comes through that medium and if that happened I’m told it could take €10 or €12m out of the IRFU budget.

“We’ve worked very hard, and the union have worked very hard, to keep the players in Ireland. We could be looking at a situation where you go back to what is was like 10 years ago, where most of the best players were playing in England and we were scratching around here. That would be very sad because the development of the game would suffer because we wouldn’t be able to afford as many development officers.

“The better players have a short window at a career like this. They would go as well. You could end up with a situation where the minister, who obviously hasn’t thought this out, could be looking at a free-to-air situation but nobody would want to watch it. People want to watch competitive, successful teams and if you take the best players out people will stop supporting you and people don’t want to watch.”

Dawson warned any attempt to push Ryan’s proposal through the European Commission would have serious implications. “The real situation is that, at the ERC and Six Nations tables, the IRFU are able to punch their weight. If you become a non-player in these (TV contract) negotiations because you’re bringing nothing to the table because everything is free here, then your monies just dry up.

“Your influence and power could diminish completely. Obviously the money is a serious factor out of all our budgets, so I would be worried if it happened and there will be representations made at a high level.”

Meanwhile, Leinster’s consultant coach, Alan Gaffney, lent his support to the view that the ERC should consider deciding future Heineken Cup semi-finals over home and away legs.

Gaffney said: “We have always accepted that is the way it is. When you don’t draw well, obviously you don’t think it is a good way of deciding it. Home and away, if there were enough weeks in the competition, would be a great way to go. But where do you fit those games in? Particularly next year with the additional four Magners League games and this year, with the (Magners League) semi-finals and finals thrown in, it has cleaned up a couple of extra weekends. With a competition of the standing it has, home and away semi-finals could be quite justified.”