It’s time for the Pro12 to Fight Back

The Pro 12 has been through many iterations since the formation of the Celtic League in 2001. Despite a certain amount of growth, it really hasn’t captured the imagination of fans, sponsors or the all-important TV audiences. This is reflected in poor revenues compared to the wealthier Top 14 or Aviva Premiership.

The competition lags behind in terms of most major metrics. If you look at the TV rights alone, Top 14 earns £60m per year, the Aviva Premiership £38m while the Pro12 earns a meagre £10m.

This means that Pro12 teams struggle to develop at the same pace as their European counterparts. It also means they will find it impossible to hold onto their top talent and maintain the squad depth required to compete in European competitions.

The frustrating thing is that the Pro12 has so much potential. Having access to the Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Italian markets, should in theory, give the league to a huge catchment area to tap into.

So what to do? We’ve put together a proposal that could turn the Pro12 into the premier European competition and act as a blueprint for the future of the game in the Northern Hemisphere.

Four elements to improve the Pro 12

1. Change the dates. First things, first. It’s been spoken about for years, but someone needs to pull the trigger, and who better than the one league with very little to lose? The Pro 12 should be the first northern hemisphere league to implement the proposed global calendar. This will see a marked improvement in the quality of play given that more rugby will take place in better weather conditions. It will also allow the Pro 12 reach new viewers as it will open it up to UK and French audiences looking to get their Rugby fill during the traditional off season.

2. Invite new teams to join – The Celtic league is dead and buried. If the Pro12 is going to have Italian teams, why not include French, English, Georgian & Romanian teams? First targets could be some of the London exile clubs, such as London Welsh, London Irish, London Scottish. In France, Toulon are always threatening to leave and have been big supporters of a European league, why not give them the option to follow through on their threats? There are several other teams in the French lower leagues who have the budgets and would be very keen to play in a Europe wide competition such as Lyon or Biarritz. Finally, Georgia, Romania and Russia could find the budgets and certainly have the ambition. Invite entries from each of these countries.

3. New League - That’s a lot of teams, so we’re going to need a second tier. A second division would make for a more competitive league with promotion and relegation now in play. Romanian, Georgian, Italian and Russian teams would battle it out alongside any newcomers such as a new Irish franchise or an ambitious French ProD2 team, to enter what could become Europe’s top league.

4. Let the money men in – To get this show on the road, open up the league to the money men. By adding in new Franchises backed by private funding, the league could grow at a faster rate. Despite his shortcomings, Boudjellal has helped grow the game by attracting a lot more attention by building a team of Galacticos in the South of France. If there was a Georgian or Irish multi-millionaire who wanted to build a similar squad, this could be their canvas.

Rugby is full of tradition and in the Northern Hemisphere, this often holds back the evolution of the game. People are set in their ways and hence these proposals will irk a lot of stubborn traditionalists who would prefer if the game was still amateur. The fact is, to compete in the modern world of sport, some radical changes are required, and the stale Pro12 just does not cut it. If changes are not made, these teams will continue to see their best players tapped up by the larger and more progressive teams in England and France. It’s time for the Pro12 to fight back and think differently.

Written by Fred Culazzo on behalf of www.TheRugbyPod.com