Premiership Rugby
The competition is regarded as one of the three top-level professional leagues in the Northern and Western Hemispheres, along with the Top 14 in France, and the cross-border United Rugby Championship for teams from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Italy and South Africa.One of the casualties of the move to competitive leagues was the loss of some traditional games as the new fixture lists didn't allow time for all of them.The clubs involved were Bath, Bristol, Coventry, Gloucester, Harlequins, Leicester, Moseley, Nottingham, Orrell, Sale, Wasps and Waterloo.Initially two teams, Bath and Leicester, proved to be head and shoulders above the rest in the Courage League, and between them dominated the top of the table.However, the team finishing top of the table at the end of the regular season was still considered English champions ("Premiership title").Halfway through the 2001–02 season, with Leicester odds-on to win their fourth title in succession, it was controversially decided that the winners of the 8-team playoff would be crowned English champions.Conversely, Gloucester have garnered an unfortunate reputation for leading the table at the end of the regular season, only to fall short of winning the Premiership title, losing finals in 2003, 2007, and 2008.[7][8] With the future of the Heineken Cup uncertain beyond 2013–14, due to a row between England's Premiership Rugby Limited and France's LNR on one side and the sport's governing bodies on the other, Premiership Rugby Limited explored several moves toward expanding its brand into the United States.In May 2013, Premiership Rugby Limited and U.S.-based RugbyLaw entered into a plan by which the two organisations were to help back a proposed U.S. professional league that could have begun play as early as 2014.[9][11] The first match played in the USA was on 12 March 2016 when London Irish were defeated by Saracens at the Red Bull Arena in the New York Metropolitan Area.[13] A new deal was reached with American sports marketing company AEG in 2017 which was intended to see at least one Premiership match taken to the US for four seasons starting in 2017–18.The first match under the new deal was held on 16 September 2017, with Newcastle Falcons taking their home fixture against Saracens to the Talen Energy Stadium in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania.In December 2018, it was announced that the Luxembourg based investment advisory firm CVC Capital Partners had bought a 27% stake in Premiership Rugby in a deal worth £200m.[21] Premiership Rugby CEO Darren Childs said this punishment was due to Saracens lack of cooperation in a mid-season audit to prove compliance in the 2019–20 season.[24] On 28 January 2020, Premiership Rugby applied a further 70 point deduction for the 2019–20 season to ensure Saracens would finish bottom of the league table.[38][39] The Premiership began the 2022–23 season with 13 clubs, but both Wasps and Worcester Warriors were removed from the league, and automatically relegated, after going into administration.Six other clubs have appeared in at least 20 seasons — Saracens, Northampton Saints, Sale Sharks, London Irish, Bristol Bears and Newcastle Falcons.Coventry, Liverpool St Helens, Moseley, Nottingham, Rosslyn Park, Rugby and Waterloo only appeared during the amateur era, whereas Exeter Chiefs, Leeds Tykes, London Welsh, Richmond, Rotherham Titans and Worcester Warriors have only appeared during the professional era.The Premiership Rugby league season typically runs from September to June and comprises 18 rounds of matches, with each club playing each other home and away.[48] As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a moratorium was approved in February 2021 for a halt on top-flight clubs being relegated from the Premiership beginning that season.[32] New minimum standards criteria were announced in September 2022, confirming that promotion from the championship was still due to take place in 2023.Since 2002–03, the winner of the league has been determined by a Premiership Final, which takes place at Twickenham and consists of two rounds of knock-out play amongst the top four teams.They are believed to entitle shareholders to a percentage of the central income of Premiership Rugby and voting rights on key issues.Doyle—who produces the programme—stated that the programme was intended to help reach a wider audience, amid a collapse in viewership for the more traditional format.In Malta, it is aired on TSN, in Italy on Mola, in France on RMC Sport, and in DACH on MTS and DAZN.