Government and IRFU on possible collision course

The grim reality of Ireland’s Six Nations games being broadcast on subscription television was not ruled out yesterday as the landscape of the professional game in Europe continues to tilt in favour of England and France.

The current Six Nations deal with the BBC continues until 2017 and runs concurrently with RTÉ’s rights package with both channels free to air.

However, there have already been suggestions put forward that both BT Sport and Sky Sports would be keen to bid for rights to broadcast the championship.

Neither broadcaster had access to footage from this year’s tournament but that did not stop them previewing and reviewing game rounds with Sky, in particular, dedicating a Friday night show to the Six Nations. This comes just months after Sky began to screen Ireland’s November Tests alongside RTÉ.

Philip Browne, chief executive of the IRFU, knows that past governments have been very keen to protect national sporting events and ensure that they have a safeguarded position on terrestrial television.

However, with the financial carrots that can be dangled in front of the six competing unions by the likes of Sky and BT he suggested that government policy in sport could limit the ability of Irish rugby to compete at the highest levels.

“The fundamental issue, I suppose, is making sure that everyone understands the consequences of the government potentially interfering with the marketplace [and preventing sale of Irish TV rights],” said Browne.

“We operate within an international environment, which is a very volatile environment. It’s a fairly delicately-poised ecosystem that we exist within. We have two vast neighbours in France and England where the monies are significant and anything that damages our ability to compete in terms of revenues is going to have a significant impact on us.

“The reality is if we lose a significant revenue stream, where do we cut back?

“Do we cut back in the professional players, the professional coaches and the quality of the people we have here? Do we let our international players go? That’s one option. The other option is to cut back at grassroots level which is effectively shooting yourself in the foot for the future so it potentially has huge consequences for the sport.”

The waters are further muddied by the prospect of a general election and a change of government within the next 12 months.

Currently, Alex White is the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and his office would deal with such issues such as the protection of national sporting events on television.

Browne fully explained that while a government may feel it is doing its duty to Irish citizens by fighting to keep events like the Six Nations free to air, they may not understand the ramifications for the game.

“The unintended consequence is that people are very interested in watching rugby because of our success and I fully understand that but, if we can’t afford to be successful anymore, will there be the same interest in watching?” posed Browne. “It’s a chicken and egg thing. At the end of the day we just need to be collectively very careful that we don’t destroy what we have.”

The landscape is delicately poised because of the threat that the English and French clubs pose given that the Top 14 and the Aviva Premiership are taking in more and more TV revenue in comparison to the PRO12.

This means that the provinces will be at greater risk of losing their best players and in the case of Johnny Sexton we have seen the detrimental effects when an individual is no longer within the IRFU’s player welfare programme.

Leinster CEO Mick Dawson recently suggested the possibility of a British and Irish League, but Browne remains unsure how much of the financial pie the English clubs would be willing to share. “If you were an English club and someone knocks your door and says, ‘this is a fantastic idea, for a British and Irish League, I tell you what you give us a chunk of what you’re already earning’...I can’t see English clubs in particular being enamoured by it,” admitted Browne.

“It may be something that may evolve over the years but at the moment what we have is the Pro 12 and what we have to do is make it work better than it is at the moment.”