Lol, no. Club rugby doesn’t break even as people won’t pay £100 a game. Breakaway leagues won’t change that. Most people don’t pay £100 for an international (but that’s gonna change soon in the 6n I’d bet). Rugby risks becoming even more elitist with this proposal and any bank that backs it is losing money
So, the French and English like being separate. But the English are broke. I could totally see them joining with the URC. The problem then is do we have leagues or conferences as having so many teams means round robin is out. The URC still manages to have all play all, just, but adding the premiership would break that. And devalue the Champions Cup. And the French still won’t join. And fans won’t pay that for club rugby.
Internationals yes, that is climbing every year. Pricing out lots of fans. But club rugby is seen to be more attractive to attend with your friends and family for a reasonable price point. Club rugby is also a step down from internationals, so I don’t think we’ll ever see it command big bucks. How much is college football for a fairer comparison?
Ah right, history. Shoulda seen that one coming
Conferences for URC could work I think, just gotta make sure traditional meetups and rivalries are maintained, e.g. provincial Irish teams playing each other
I wouldn’t say college football is necessarily a step down from pro, at least when it comes to Top 25 teams playing each other. In fact there’s lots of football fans that care more about college than pro. At top programs like Michigan, tickets can be on the same level as pro - I mean, lookup pics of their stadium, it rivals some pro stadiums