League Targets

[PhilClinton]

All I’m saying is when R360 season 2027 rolls around and Tindall announces there will be a new Saudi leg on the tour, no one should act surprised.

TBH the funding situation is probably irrelevant to this forum and the conversation around who is signing etc. so I apologise for bringing it up.

 

[Major Tom]

How many signatures are they up to?
The deadline is the end of this month to get to their target yeah?

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

All I’m saying is when R360 season 2027 rolls around and Tindall announces there will be a new Saudi leg on the tour, no one should act surprised.

TBH the funding situation is probably irrelevant to this forum and the conversation around who is signing etc. so I apologise for bringing it up.

No. It's related. Most people want to figure out where the money is coming from to pay the players.

 

[Wilson]

It's a travelling league right? So twice a year they will get 4 mens and 2 women's matches played over a weekend at the same location.

You'd need a lot of locals keen on rugby as a sport (or at least an event); supporting one of the 12 teams isn't really going to work

Particularly hard when you consider that almost all the rest of the games will be played in a fairly unfriendly timezone to suit the UK/Euro market they appear to be focused on. The best any Australian/NZ fan base can hope for is maybe 3 events - Australia, Singapore/Hong Kong and Tokyo, but even then that'll be pushing it.

 

[Omar Comin']

Particularly hard when you consider that almost all the rest of the games will be played in a fairly unfriendly timezone to suit the UK/Euro market they appear to be focused on. The best any Australian/NZ fan base can hope for is maybe 3 events - Australia, Singapore/Hong Kong and Tokyo, but even then that'll be pushing it.

American legs wouldn't be so bad either. If rugby is destined to become a big global sport then this is likely the best possible scenario from an Aus/NZ timezone perspective. The likely alternative would be the Top 14/European club rugby becoming the NBA of rugby.

 

[Wilson]

American legs wouldn't be so bad either. If rugby is destined to become a big global sport then this is likely the best possible scenario from an Aus/NZ timezone perspective. The likely alternative would be the Top 14/European club rugby becoming the NBA of rugby.

Maybe if they're played at prime time in the US, but I fear the more likely outcome is that they'll be played daytime/afternoon to better serve that European market, and keep the kick off timing as consistent as possible across the legs.

 

[Sword of Justice]

R360 delayed for likely a year.

This doesn’t sound great re being unable to answer WR (World Rugby) questions. Interesting points raised about starting the comp in a World Cup year if delayed possibly hindering selection of top talent, though probably not marquee league players. Also interesting that the Women’s organisation in R360 is specifically called out as being unprepared.

I would think that the memorandums are not in perpetuity so this could really harm the player pool quality.

 

[Wilson]

Going to be hard for them to come back from this I think. Not sure any of their initial agreements would remain valid with the delay and with the increased scepticism this will bring they might have a much harder time getting players to sign on again.

 

[Sword of Justice]

Yep, what seemed like an existential threat to several leagues in two sports now seems like a house of cards.

 

[PhilClinton]

Makes sense now why there seemed to be a rush on the women’s contracts to be finalised, wanting to review the viability of the player pool.

Several of the players I know who had been offered contracts are still currently what you’d classify as amateur.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Going to be hard for them to come back from this I think. Not sure any of their initial agreements would remain valid with the delay and with the increased scepticism this will bring they might have a much harder time getting players to sign on again.

Is it? R360 has been referred to as a rebel/breakaway league fairly consistently since it was announced. They might take this time to continue building the competition while looking to address the broader issues brought up by WR (World Rugby) in preparation for another run at it next June.

Or they could lean into the rebel theme and do it anyway.