Talks are taking place that could change the rugby landscape in the future, with CVC at the heart of potential plans to merge leagues going forward.
There is a realisation that professional rugby in Britain and Ireland is not financially sustainable in its current format. Clubs in the Gallagher Prem posted combined losses of £32m last season, while the financial picture is anything but rosy in the United Rugby Championship.
Talks are bubbling beneath the surface around a restructuring of competitions over the next few years.
While the Welsh Rugby Union have confirmed there will be four professional clubs in Wales for the next two seasons, it remains committed to a reduction to three in the long term.
But the structure of Welsh rugby could depend on the what the competitions will look like in the long term.
The Gallagher Prem’s new franchise league is committed to expanding from 10 to 12 clubs by 2028 before eventually going up to 14.
PRL have denied future Welsh participation, with the Rugby Football Union keen to grow the game in England by potentially forming new sides in Birmingham, Cornwall or even Yorkshire.
But WalesOnline understands there is a significant appetite from Gallagher Prem clubs to include one, if not two, Welsh clubs in the future, provided Cardiff is one of them.
But the WRU are a shareholder of the URC and would have to be formally invited into the Gallagher Prem for such a move to become a reality while P shares cost in the region of £20m.
The WRU have consistently reiterated they are committed to URC but there is no doubt Welsh rugby would be commercially better off competing in an Anglo-Welsh competition.
Since announcing the move to a franchise-based model which includes an end to relegation, a number of clubs have attracted significant investment with Red Bull taking ownership of Newcastle and Black Knight Sports and Entertainment who own Premier League football club Bournemouth in the process of buying Exeter Chiefs.
If there was a way into the Gallagher Prem then the WRU, who have decided to keep hold of Cardiff Rugby after the Y11 deal fell through, could attract significant buyers.
WalesOnline understands CVC, the massive global equity firm who have a significant stake in both the Gallagher Prem and URC, have looked into the possibility of merging both competitions in the future.
This is being looked at through a working group called Rugby Labs, which CVC previously set up as an incubator to look for new ideas.
A merger of both competitions, which would have included an Anglo-Welsh conference, very nearly became a reality a couple of years ago.
But for such a seismic move to happen, every single PRL club would have to vote in favour and on that occasion two voted against the proposal.
However, there is a growing sense that the financial pressures facing both competitions could eventually force rugby’s powerbrokers back to the table.