The Premiership is set to rebrand itself to simply the ‘Prem’ from next season, as part of a plan to make the sport more appealing.
While the name change isn’t the only difference that fans can expect to see next season, it is definitely the standout change in terms of being the most noticeable difference week-by-week.
Many already call the league the Prem colloquially, and this move seems to be an attempt from the higher-ups to show that they are in touch with the fans.
Some of the other changes have been criticised for not putting fans first, though.
Charlie Elliott goes through the proposed changes, the likelihood of them being implemented and the potential effects they could have.
Probably the decision that has received the most coverage, the new orange logo and removal of seven letters to just the ‘Prem’, is the change that will have the least direct impact on fans.
Some disagree with the name and think that the new logo isn’t great, but it likely won’t make people stop following the sport and could help to generate new audiences.
The aim was to make things less corporate, which in essence it has done by making the name more colloquial, and the logo is basic enough not to cause any major change to anything.
Time will tell whether it actually correlates to an increase in new fans, but the signs do point towards it potentially working.
While not everyone will agree with changing the name and logo, a rebrand isn’t the end of the world, and in reality, it won’t have a huge impact on existing rugby fans.
Thursday Night Game
A Thursday night game is going to be trialled on the first weekend of next season, which has mainly been done to avoid a clash with the Women’s World Cupfinal that takes place on Saturday 27th September, two days after the scheduled Thursday.
While people have been up in arms about Thursday games given the logistical challenges for away fans, for a one-off occasion at the start of the season, it is another that, for now, has very little impact.
It could lead to more trials, which could aim to replicate the success in France of staggering games between Thursday and the weekend, but it has been announced as just a ‘one-off trial’, so this may not end up being the case.
Away Ends
This season, two away ends were trialled, and this rebranded league looks to facilitate more of those going forward into next season.
The two trials at Saracens v Gloucester and Leicester Tigers v Harlequins had mixed reviews, showing that it is still a work in progress, but could end up working well if there is an appetite from fans.
Fans still have the option of being in the ‘home’ end, but there will be a dedicated ‘away’ section for those wanting to be with fans from their own team.
It may encourage more people to travel to away games and could subsequently boost attendances.
While this isn’t big news given that it has already been trialled, it shows that those trials were at least somewhat of a success.
Taking Games to the USA
While this won’t happen next season, it has been reported that the league wants to have games in the US in the build-up to the 2031 World Cup, which will be held over there.
It has happened twice before, with neither game selling out, as London Irish faced Saracens in New York in 2016 and Saracens played Newcastle Falcons in Philadelphia in 2017.
Premiership Rugby’s chief executive, Simon Massie-Taylor, has explained that he wants to max out what is going on domestically in England before taking the game overseas.
Part of this maxing out will come from the increase in ‘big games’ that we have already seen in recent years. Harlequins play twice a season at Twickenham, and Bristol Bears played Bath in Cardiff this season, with these kinds of games being encouraged.
While it is good to play games in bigger stadiums, part of what makes it so special is the rarity of the occasion.
If suddenly every team did it, then it would lose its novelty, and you would potentially be left with huge stadiums that are barely full.
Future of Promotion and Relegation
New York-based bank Raine and consultancy firm Deloitte have been employed to try and plan for how the league could look in the future.
It has been reported that they will look at the game in England as a priority, meaning little chance of a merger league with Wales, Scotland or Ireland.
This may lead to an end to promotion and relegation, as the two firms look likely to recommend that the league be franchised.
If that franchising happens, then there won’t be any promotion and relegation from the Championship (rebranded to the Champ next season), and it will close off the system completely.
Fans have previously criticised the rules put in place that do not allow for Championship winners to come up, mainly due to stadium criteria, and it looks likely that a franchise league would not be viewed positively by fans.
What cannot be debated is the need for some kind of change, with three teams recently going bust and there being a need to attract more fans to the game.
Some will see these changes as beneficial to the game in England overall, but others may believe that there are better ways to go about things.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login