Prem Rugby is driving forward plans to revamp the Champions Cup, to make it a more elite competition with fewer teams involved.
There is now a widespread acceptance among rugby executives, not just supporters, that a 24-team Champions Cup in which some teams can qualify for the knockouts with one victory is a poor format that must change.
Matters have escalated in recent weeks after Jacques Raynaud, the chief executive of European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), spoke in glowing terms about his competition in The Times, demonstrating its success with various data points. Raynaud said the present format of the Champions Cup was locked in until 2030, and there was no desire for change.
“I know there are opinions that it could be more elite, but the truth is it’s still delivering fantastic rugby, on superb stages,” Raynaud said. “Maybe not the entire 20 matches per weekend, but we can measure it with fan engagement. I’m not just sugar-coating it. The data points are out there.”
It is understood that many in the boardrooms of Prem Rugby, the United Rugby Championship (URC) and the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR), who run the Top 14 in France, reacted to the interview with dismay, feeling that it came across as detached from reality.
“We have got to be realistic,” a source said.
EPCR sources are determined that they are not standing in the way of any desired changes, and have tabled various different formats for the competition previously, which the clubs failed to agree on. The existing 24-team format, with four pools of six and then a round of 16, was the only one that gained unanimity from Prem Rugby, the LNR and URC. It was last altered for the 2023-24 season, when the “super pools” of two sets of 12 were dropped for four pools of six teams.
Northampton Saints and Henry Pollock went close to glory in the Champions Cup last season, losing to Bordeaux in the final, but there is an acceptance that the competition needs to change
ANDREW BOYERS/REUTERS
Prem Rugby is therefore leading proposals to change the competition from the 2027-28 season. It has the support of the Top 14 and URC to push for a more “premium” competition with fewer qualifiers, with 16 teams seen as the best solution.
Some top executives would like to see the competition played in one block at the end of the season, as the Club World Cup will be from 2028. That new competition will replace the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup and will involve eight European/South African qualifiers, seven Super Rugby teams and a Japanese guest side.
EPCR is strongly aware that change is needed and wants to be proactive. It would like the competition to begin in October, not December, so that pool matches are played before the November Tests, as Raynaud explained in The Times a fortnight ago.
“We have a compelling tournament with a stable format that is delivering what we wanted,” he said. “Can it be improved? I think it can; one of the things we’re looking at is to start earlier, and we’re looking at maybe separating the round of 16 and quarter-finals.”
Whatever the format of a new Champions Cup, fitting it into the existing calendar will be a challenge. As The Times has reported, Prem Rugby is prepared to reduce its number of qualifiers as it has long realised that eight of its ten clubs making the top competition is too many. The English want to expand their top flight to 12 teams, but that will take until 2029, and the new entrants will most likely not be ready to go deep in the Champions Cup.
Other proposals to change the Champions Cup, such as to make it an 18-team competition, have not reached consensus. Prem Rugby, the LNR and URC, and all their clubs, would have to agree unanimously with EPCR on any new format.
Any change would only realistically happen from 2029, as Premier Sports has one year left of a three-year deal with EPCR to show the Champions Cup in its present form, and the Club World Cup will be staged in the spring of 2028.
A primary desire to make changes to the competition is to make it more attractive to a broadcaster, particularly one with a larger audience than Premier Sports, such as TNT Sports, which did not renew its deal to televise the cup in 2024.
TNT at present shows all Prem Rugby but has lost the rights to the autumn Tests, which will now be repackaged as the Nations Championship on ITV. League executives are keen for TNT to consider buying the Champions Cup rights, hence this mood to streamline the competition.
An EPCR source: “We are proactive in constant discussions with leagues and stakeholders to make constructive and positive improvements to the competitions, and are in conversations with leagues to find the best possible options to enhance and evolve our tournaments.”