Premiership TV deal set to spark new H-Cup row

European rugby suffered another divisive blow last night after England’s Premiership clubs announced a new television deal with BT that included the sale of British broadcast rights to its own Heineken Cup matches.

Relations between ERC, organisers of the Heineken Cup, and Premiership Rugby, the collective of England’s top-flight clubs who supply teams to the European competitions, have already been strained this summer ahead of a new shareholder agreement between all six competing unions for the 2014-15 season.

An axis of Anglo-French clubs want changes made to the Heineken Cup’s structure, which it says currently favours Celtic League competitors due to the absence of relegation in their RaboDirect Pro12 and have threatened to set up an alternative tournament when the current agreement ends in 2014 if their demands are not met.