FFR bribe their clubs to save the H-Cup

First topic message reminder :

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/heineken-cup/2013/1111/485986-heineken-cup-france-offer/
I found this on RTE picking up on an article in Midi-Olympique

"French clubs have been offered €2 million each by the FFR to commit to playing in the Heineken Cup next season, according to reports in French media.

Pierre Camou, the Federation Francaise de Rugby president, is reported to have chaired a secret meeting at Paris’s Charles-de-Gaulle airport last week which was attended by representatives of the Top 14 clubs, as well as several of their English counterparts.

The claims were reported in French newspaper Midi Olympique.

The FFR chief is insistent that any European competition next season will continue to be governed by the European Rugby Cup.

Camou has been strongly opposed from outset of the announcement of plans for the Rugby Champions Cup.

According to Midi Olympique, the FFR is now ready to ensure that the ERC remains the only show in town by delivering a payment of up to €2 million to each of the French clubs.

Camou has reportedly also proposed the idea of signing any individual players who wish to continue playing in the Heineken Cup onto central federal contracts with the FFR, similar to what the IRFU does with its star players.

Camou is insistent that what the French clubs are planning to do in breaking away to form the Rugby Champions Cup is in contravention of existing French rugby laws.

When the plans for the RCC were first announced, the FFR were quick to warn the Ligue National de Rugby that they had no right to organise a competition without the direct consent of both the FFR and the International Rugby Board.

It is understood that Camou has support from several of the individual French clubs, including Toulon and Biarritz."

I'm surprised that they need to resort to bribery. Or that the FFR has €28 million to bribe them with. To me it smacks of desperation. This could work though.

quinsforever wrote:the SKY thing is just a rumour. think i might have started it

Maybe, but it's actually something I thought possible before first having read it. Who knows? It still doesn't matter though. The point still stands. Would SKY be willing to cut the amount each league receives simply because PRL are out of the competition? I can see that they may want to reduce their costs by the PRL's 24%, but in light of their competitors, and the fact that these teams have refused to defect to the proposed new tournament, I don't believe they would actually cut the HEC shares going to Rabo or LNR.

quinsforever wrote:
and sin e, if by arrogant you mean actually going by the numbers that have been reported, then yes i must be arrogant. oh, wait, i'm english so arrogant by default, almost forgot  

it's clearly a one-off payment from FFR (irrespective where the cash comes from). how is this confusing?

as for SKY reducing what they pay compared to a tourny with everyone in, they will do so because they can. and because they are not stupid. and also because there will absolutely be less people watching a tournament without the english clubs, everywhere apart from ireland. and because they knew the prl and lnr had withdrawn.

No, I don't mean going by the numbers reported, I mean by you spinning it as a one-off payment and that there would be no other payment involved over a 7 year period. The arrogance is that you probably believe that they would be thick enough to fall for a one off payment where they would not be better off.

Its hello money commonly used by British shopkeepers especially supermarkets who collect an hello fee from suppliers so that they will stock and sell their product.

I was reading an article by Sean Fitzpatrick on the situation of the Heineken Cup in Europe. I thought it was interesting that the clubs he used as an example as to who everyone wanted to watch were Munster v Toulouse.

Rugby is also a schedule filler for Sky and can I remind you again, in the last Barb ratings, the Toulouse v Sarries didn't make the Top 10 most viewed recently. The only teams that made the Top 10 in the UK viewing market on both weekends were Harlequins, Leinster, Munster, Ospreys and Toulouse.

Dubbelyew L Overate wrote:
However, the threat to the value of European rugby sponsorship described by the Saatchi geezer surely would affect ERC just as much as RCC?

Except that the ERC have an existing relationship with Heineken (and have since the start). They were there before the English clubs were competing in it, and they hung in there when the English clubs withdrew in '99.

Just reading an interview with Derek McGrath from a few months back. Apparently the BT element for this new RCC Cup is just 20m - so the rest would have to come from sponsorship etc.

The ERC's revenue is 55m.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/columnists/kieran-shannon/walking-the-tightrope-246109.html

What an excellent and measured article.

Explodes a few myths and is in stark contrast to some of the rants we have been hearing

I agree. Thanks for posting that link Sin E.

Hmm.................. so BT/PRL alliance is actually only 20 million guarantee PLUS 55 million of promises?  Hmmm, that's not the way the PRL have been wording it

So............. what's the SKY deal worth on its own before sponsorship?

Is this the real secret McCafferty is holding back on - the company he intends (regally) to name as main sponsor?  Is that where most money is going to come from...with BT just a smokescreen?
He should be asked to name the company he intends to involve.  He should be forced to say how heavily he is involved in yet another 'deal' being cooked behind closed doors for an entire contest - without those expected to be involved in such a contest being anywhere near the negotiating table for any of these PRL 'deals'.

Name the company McCafferty.  Then declare any personal sweetners you are on from said company to get them involved.

He seems to say a lot but doesn't really get around to saying anything about the DETAILS of his pet project.

The Aviva Rugby Champions Cup.

SecretFly wrote:Hmm.................. so BT/PRL alliance is actually only 20 million guarantee PLUS 55 million of promises?  Hmmm, that's not the way the PRL have been wording it

So............. what's the SKY deal worth on its own before sponsorship?

Is this the real secret McCafferty is holding back on - the company he intends (regally) to name as main sponsor?  Is that where most money is going to come from...with BT just a smokescreen?
He should be asked to name the company he intends to involve.  He should be forced to say how heavily he is involved in yet another 'deal' being cooked behind closed doors for an entire contest - without those expected to be involved in such a contest being anywhere near the negotiating table for any of these PRL 'deals'.

Name the company McCafferty.  Then declare any personal sweetners you are on from said company to get them involved.

He seems to say a lot but doesn't really get around to saying anything about the DETAILS of his pet project.

can we please move on from quoting a several month old article from someone within ERC who admits he doesnt know the details of BT's proposal?

quinsforever wrote:

SecretFly wrote:Hmm.................. so BT/PRL alliance is actually only 20 million guarantee PLUS 55 million of promises?  Hmmm, that's not the way the PRL have been wording it

So............. what's the SKY deal worth on its own before sponsorship?

Is this the real secret McCafferty is holding back on - the company he intends (regally) to name as main sponsor?  Is that where most money is going to come from...with BT just a smokescreen?
He should be asked to name the company he intends to involve.  He should be forced to say how heavily he is involved in yet another 'deal' being cooked behind closed doors for an entire contest - without those expected to be involved in such a contest being anywhere near the negotiating table for any of these PRL 'deals'.

Name the company McCafferty.  Then declare any personal sweetners you are on from said company to get them involved.

He seems to say a lot but doesn't really get around to saying anything about the DETAILS of his pet project.

can we please move on from quoting a several month old article from someone within ERC who admits he doesnt know the details of BT's proposal?

So everyone who needs to know the forensic detail of Mccafferty's plan........................ ie, where he intends to get the extra 55 million he's already claimed to have in his wall safe ....Do know?  Is that what you're saying, quins?  The members of the ERC (all prospective partners in a new RCC venture) know exactly who the main sponsor of the new event is going to be?