The Welsh rugby club that wants to merge with the English Premiership

The Scarlets’ executive chairman believes the Premiership and United Rugby Championship (URC) are heading towards a merger and that his Welsh region deserves to be part of it.

Simon Muderack says the appeal of a combined competition would lie in the increased number of games between Welsh and English clubs, with bigger crowds and entertaining rivalries, and that is what the Scarlets want and need to survive and thrive.

“Now that the genie is out of the bottle, in terms of conversations, the people involved in decision-making need to move on,” says Muderack I in a wide-ranging interview.

“It would be very un-rugby-related to make a decision quickly, but they should do it, communicate it, and hit hard, sell and talk. Because it’s exciting.”

The idea of ​​a merger between the Premiership and URC, which share offices in London, has been brewing behind the scenes for more than a year.

Recent public comments from the Premiership and URC have not ruled out this possibility, although all involved are aware of the risk and difficulty involved in any change to rugby’s complex ecosystem.

Muderack believes the idea is now being pushed by CVC Capital Partners, the private equity firm that has a stake in each of the existing leagues.

A commonly talked about competition format in Welsh rugby circles is an Anglo-Welsh conference alongside a “European” conference involving teams from Ireland, Scotland, Italy and South Africa.

Muderack says: “I think an Anglo-Welsh conference would work, because the numbers bear it out and there is the prospect of travel.

“We both have salary caps, which we could align, and that would make a lot of sense from a performance perspective.

“Plus, you would have some interconference games. And both conferences would come together for the play-offs.”

Muderack would like it to start in 2026, which coincides with the end of the Premiership’s current TV contracts. “I think that’s doable – and it has to be, because otherwise you’re going into another media cycle for a set of competitions that you already said you were going to replace.”

Muderack accepts that this would call into question the viability of European competitions, but believes the strength of the French national league and its huge television deal have already done that.

THE Financial Times reported in 2021 that URC had TV contracts worth £55 million annually. The South African contribution is generally estimated at around £10 million.

The Premiership in England saw its deal with TNT Sports fall to around £30m a year as it lost three of its teams, and the future solvency of its member clubs is routinely linked to a better television deal.

Everyone involved cast envious glances at the announcement earlier this year of France’s £107 million annual deal with Canal+ for the Top 14 from 2027 to 2032, a 14 percent increase.

The formal way for Scarlets and their Welsh regions Cardiff, Dragons and Ospreys to express their views is through the Professional Rugby Board of Wales and the URC.

Separately, the regions are currently entering into a new funding agreement with the Welsh Rugby Union, of which Muderack says: “There has been a positive cultural change in the Union; the new financing structure will be a step forward.”

Still, the man who has held the role at Scarlets since 2020 – and Muderack reckons that, before the Covid pandemic, only his region of Wales and Exeter Chiefs in the Premiership made money – is adamant that the league’s setup would benefit from a review, even if the devil takes the last one.

“We’re all disappointed with the values ​​we get for TV, we need to do something creative with this, and I think the value is in trying to bring the two leagues together in some way,” says Muderack.

“As a collective you have some really exciting teams and could see some good clashes. You’ll be able to see our passionate traveling supporters perform, and there’s plenty of heritage for you to enjoy. Provenance in sport is very important.”

Muderack says Scarlets fans are already excited about traveling to Gloucester for the European Challenge Cup tie in January: calling the ticket office, booking hotel rooms, arranging transport.

He feels the same emotion when seeing the famous “rag doll” from the traditional game with Bath in the Scarlets team manager’s office, and adds that the Scarlets’ pre-season friendlies with Leicester and Saracens have highlighted the links that exist.

In the spirit of the spitter, he thinks French clubs could get involved in end-of-season penalties, which would attract a unique broadcaster like Amazon Prime.

“Ultimately, a lot of this will come down to economics,” says Muderack.

But what if CVC’s financial model determines that certain teams’ numbers don’t add up, whether hypothetically the Zebre of Italy or Newcastle of England or the Dragons or the Scarlets or anyone else?

“Ultimately, from a Scarlets perspective, we have to support each other to be desirable,” says Muderack. “We have a strong heritage and a style of play that is attractive – despite being pelted by rain, we can’t stop our boys from shooting the ball.

“We are probably the biggest brand in west Wales, of any commercial brand. We have a £40 million asset in our stadium. We have supported the women’s team, Brython Thunder, in the west for the last four months.

“We don’t receive funding for this, but for us it’s important. The men’s and women’s games need each other. And these girls grow up wanting to play for the Scarlets, not for a manufactured franchise.”

Scarlets has 3,500 shareholders dating back to the early days of professionalism – “almost everyone in Llanelli bought 100 shares,” says Muderack, who grew up in the town – and a group of benefactors who have invested most of the capital needed to support the business and they own 85 per cent: eight to 10 people who consider themselves “custodians” and include Huw Evans, Nigel Short, Ron Jones and Philip Davies. They have Wales midfield prospect Sam Costelow and plenty of young talent, including gliding center Macs Page.

“We have deep roots in the community that are really important to us,” says Muderack. “We had over 800 students at our captain’s race on Friday last week. We do a few hundred sessions in primary schools every month; the range is incredible.

“These roots are why some of our sponsors give us the support they do and why several of our directors are involved. Our commitment to the community is non-negotiable.”

Muderack lives in south-west London, “surrounded by rugby”, and has seen his closest Premiership team, Harlequins, grow their attendance from single-digit thousands in their early professional days to sell out the 14,800-capacity Stoop at almost every league matches.

Parc y Scarlets is a similar size but will not be full for URC’s visit to Connacht on Friday. The large cross-border crowds, at least initially, of Cardiff and Swansea’s ‘rebel’ 1998-99 season, and more recent European games, are the inspiration. So Muderack sees a scenario where they are shipping out Parc y Scarlets?

“Despite last Saturday’s result (home defeat to Cardiff), there is a good feeling at the club, with a group of young people putting their hands up,” he says.

“For a Friday night kickoff, some of our fans live a couple of hours’ drive away, even within our region, so that’s a bit tricky.

“What is possible is where we were just before Covid, after a few successful seasons with regular crowds of over 10,000.

“The demographics of our three counties that we represent are less than 300,000 people. So, if we get 10 thousand people, we will have 3% of the entire population. But this is absolutely achievable, with a little success and the right league structure.

“We have a challenge in terms of travel costs to South Africa – and that is not disrespectful to the South African teams, it is just a geographical reality. And clearly, with the South African teams, there are no traveling fans either.

“In terms of performance, I was talking to our coaches after we played Saracens on Friday night (three weeks ago). The team returned to Wales at 2am and were in bed by three.

“And on Saturday afternoon you go back to normal and you have a whole week to prepare for the next game. Whereas we’ve had trips (at URC) that last a few days, and then things go wrong and you add an extra 12 or 24 hours to the weekend, and your next week takes a backseat.

“Our fans want to play for English clubs. Infamously, 25 years ago the WRU turned down the opportunity for five Welsh clubs to join the Premiership.

“And while we would probably still be back at the table discussing new competition formats now, that would have been a huge step forward back then, and the game really can’t afford to miss out on those opportunities now.

“I’m not one to say ‘let’s end our relationship with the URC and jump into bed with the English’. I do not believe that, from the CVC’s point of view, this is feasible.

“But my biggest fear with all of this is that we won’t make the right decisions, because we won’t make any decisions, which is something the game has done very well.”