Mega-league will struggle to take off -Baxter

By PAUL REES

ROB Baxter believes reported plans for a world franchise league that would sign up 280 players, with the top 40 on £1m a year, will struggle to get off the drawing board.

The concept is modelled on cricket’s Indian Premier League, although the 14 rounds of competition would be taken to different cities around the world.

The cost would come close to matching the annual turnover of the three Celtic unions at a time when money in the game is tight.

“This idea has not been discussed here and I do not think it has been taken seriously at Premiership or RFU level,” said Baxter, Exeter‘s director of rugby.

“I almost cannot see how it can happen. England players are contracted to the RFU for the first time and loads of players in other countries are signed up to their unions. I am not quite sure how any sum of money to the individual players will change that scenario. If big cash offers are made to the unions to try and make it happen, it is like anything.

Doubtful: Rob Baxter

“It just seems a fishing expedition to me to see what people say and if they start clamouring for it. There was chat only a few weeks ago about a British league or an Anglo-Welsh league.

“When everyone sits down, they realise there are quite a few contracts already in place so chats cannot happen for two or three years.

“I do not see how a world league can just be dropped in out of nowhere around the Test programmes and everything else in place. Not one element of it seems to make any sense to me.”

As Premiership clubs move towards sustainability after taking a financial hit with the pandemic, pressure will build to increase the number of clubs from 10.

“The beauty of 10 is that it is incredibly competitive,” said Baxter. “Breaks between the games are bigger but the flip of it is most clubs feel they do not have enough front line home games to drive finances through a season.

“There is a feeling that if the league could expand in the right way most clubs would take that for the additional home fixtures. It will depend on contracts already in place.

“We would welcome a couple more high profile home games purely for the finances and to bring additional crowd numbers in. I do not know how it would come about.”