Pro 12 sponsor

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Does anyone have the latest with what's going on with the Pro 12?

Quite concerning it is July and still no word on it - who is doing the negotiating?

If this is being discussed somewhere else let me know!

It's pretty much exactly the same website just with a new colour scheme!

Their Twitter page has updated the logo too.

RDW_Scotland wrote:It's pretty much exactly the same website just with a new colour scheme!

Their Twitter page has updated the logo too.

Yep...but it's the colour scheme I'm talking about.  They'll probably do more work on it in time after announcement.  For now, it's less.... em blue and orange....

New website link

http://www.pro12rugby.com/matchcentre/fixtures_list.php

Fixtures are up!

Hmmm...Glasgow v Leinster before the battle scars have healed. Someone is going to get their head handed to them as a "Thankyou for hosting us last time" hug.

RDW_Scotland wrote:

Fixtures are up!

Just the weekends as usual. No chance of trying to organise anything.

When will the actual kick off times and dates be announced?

Chunky Norwich wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:

Fixtures are up!

Just the weekends as usual. No chance of trying to organise anything.

When will the actual kick off times and dates be announced?

To be fair, and I can't believe I am saying this, it is not the league that is causing the issues with that but the TV companies.

Looking at the opening weekend I think the odds must be on Sky showing Glasgow V Leinster, that is the dream match to kick of their coverage, a replay of the final.

Chunky Norwich wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:

Fixtures are up!

Just the weekends as usual. No chance of trying to organise anything.
When will the actual kick off times and dates be announced?

Organise what? A Barbi?

And don't rush the dates and times, Chunky! First we must learn about the thousand pages of contracts with the intricate money deals on them. First things first.

Fuzzy Dunlop wrote:
As well as being impressively condescending towards the Welsh you also manage to provide a fine example of why no sensible debate can be found on here regarding P12 or ERC. It's this childish belief that no person or organisation could ever want to see change for any other reason than to protect themselves from Irish domination. Absolutely no legitimate concerns exist, they are just taking their ball home and not playing with the Irish anymore. Never mind the fact that the English clubs were already showing signs of wanting to leave if changes weren't made before the Irish success kicked in (when the reigning champions were, er, English). Never mind that Welsh regional rugby is clearly in a bad state and need to be exploring all options to see what can be done to help, including questioning whether or not the pro12  suits their needs. Nope, can't possibly be that. Has to be an underhanded attempt at handicapping those bloody upstarts from across the water, right?

I know you're keen to present it as plucky underdogs who rose up to fight the oppression but no reasonable discussion can happen whilst any grievances are shrugged off as being a smoke screen for the attempts by the man to hold you down.

Great post that.

SecretFly wrote:

Organise what?  A Barbi?

Yes. And my kids birthday party. And a holiday. And a million other things.

Pathetic league.

That it is Chunky.  Which brings me to the question of why you always seem to be present when it's being discussed?  Surely a time for indulging in one of your other million things to do on a humid day in July 2014...?

SecretFly wrote:That it is Chunky.  Which brings me to the question of why you always seem to be present when it's being discussed?  Surely a time for indulging in one of your other million things to do on a humid day in July 2014...?

It's not a weekend at the moment.

Oh...it's your favourite Google search word at work? Oh right. I understand.

Chunky - you've had your say (repeatedly).

If that's all you're going to contribute to this thread then best move on.

Fair point.

10/11/12 APR – ZEBRE v SCARLETS
10/11/12 APR – TREVISO v OSPREYS

Living in a 'mixed relationship'. that could be the spring holiday sorted  

Ha, Treviso-Connacht-Blues-Edinburgh are the top 4 teams of the league. Imagine if it ended that way.

The Irish inter-provincials have been shuffled up.

Leinster hosting Munster in Aviva first weekend in October.

The Christmas/New Year period has Leinster hosting Connacht, @Munster (on Stephen's Day), hosting Ulster.

PenfroPete wrote:10/11/12 APR – ZEBRE v SCARLETS
10/11/12 APR – TREVISO v OSPREYS

Living in a 'mixed relationship'. that could be the spring holiday sorted  

A mixed relationship, one woman one man.

thebandwagonsociety wrote:Ha, Treviso-Connacht-Blues-Edinburgh are the top 4 teams of the league.  Imagine if it ended that way.

I would settle for it staying unchanged, that way the Scarlets finish above Ulster   

I suppose it says a lot about the BBC that the Guinness sponsorship announcement is well down the stories on the front page of their website, and the England woman's team squad announcement gets bigger billing on the rugby page!

Well down? Second on the page?

On the BBC sport home page it is 3rd bottom of the 'headlines'.

For me anyway...

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

PenfroPete wrote:10/11/12 APR – ZEBRE v SCARLETS
10/11/12 APR – TREVISO v OSPREYS

Living in a 'mixed relationship'. that could be the spring holiday sorted  

A mixed relationship, one woman one man.

Mixed up, I think he meant.

RDW_Scotland wrote:On the BBC sport home page it is 3rd bottom of the 'headlines'.

Oh, the sport home rather than union home? Well I just looked and it was 11th, behind the women's World Cup team and Hargreaves becoming Sarries captain...so I'd agree with way down

Cardiff Dave wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

PenfroPete wrote:10/11/12 APR – ZEBRE v SCARLETS
10/11/12 APR – TREVISO v OSPREYS

Living in a 'mixed relationship'. that could be the spring holiday sorted  

A mixed relationship, one woman one man.

Mixed up, I think he meant.

One Scarlet (herself) and one 'T'Ossprey  

SecretFly wrote:

Nevermind indeed!  Too right and well said!  
The English clubs - that bounced up from no entries when HC first started, to four.  
Then down to no entries again in '99 (another protest about something not being right by their reckoning).  
Then miraculously up to six the following year after the no-show the previous year.  Not taking part and "wanting to leave" sure does have happy side benefits!!!

The English were right to walk out in protest again considering all the bad stuff that was going down that were virtual open plots of sedition against them.  It's fixed now.  They're not victims anymore.  They'll be happy now......  until they're not happy again.

So after years of being unhappy with the format they were finally in a position were they could just about survive without European rugby and so decided to pull out. What changed wasn't the Irish winning or the French winning, it was simply down to them having enough money for the first time to live with the worst case scenario. I fail to see what's wrong with that, and no doubt you would too if roles were reversed. Remember, i've never said that I felt the PRL's demands were reasonable and that they deserve them, just that it would be nice to see them being the focus of discussions.  It seems that the problem you have is that they were actually able to get the changes they wanted, when you know that the IRFU would probably have had next to no success in their place. That and your thinly disguised hatred of all things England, of course. At least it's one thing we can agree on - I think they're all bastards too   

It's interesting how you, and the others who share your argument, ignore the French as much as possible. Is it perhaps because the 'you only want out because you can't win the bloody thing' argument can't be used on them, and there's little else to fall back on? Surely not.

Anyways, i'm glad to see the P12 has it's sponsor sorted. An appropriate one too, much better than a bank or insurance company (for what little it matters). Especially pleased to see the website wasn't made by the work experience kid this time. If it means i'm guaranteed to find Guinness at Ravenhill when I make my first visit this year, then that's fine by me.

thebandwagonsociety wrote:The Irish inter-provincials have been shuffled up.

Leinster hosting Munster in Aviva first weekend in October.

The Christmas/New Year period has Leinster hosting Connacht, @Munster (on Stephen's Day), hosting Ulster.

Very happy, Definite disadvantage for Ulster to have Leinster and Munster with a very short turnaround every year whilst Leinster and Munster have an 'easy' game against Connacht.

Now that I've said that, Ulster will lose to Connacht over the Christmas period

PenfroPete wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

PenfroPete wrote:10/11/12 APR – ZEBRE v SCARLETS
10/11/12 APR – TREVISO v OSPREYS

Living in a 'mixed relationship'. that could be the spring holiday sorted  

A mixed relationship, one woman one man.

Mixed up, I think he meant.

One Scarlet (herself) and one 'T'Ossprey  

Ah so she is honest to the region she belongs to then   

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

PenfroPete wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

PenfroPete wrote:10/11/12 APR – ZEBRE v SCARLETS
10/11/12 APR – TREVISO v OSPREYS

Living in a 'mixed relationship'. that could be the spring holiday sorted  

A mixed relationship, one woman one man.

Mixed up, I think he meant.

One Scarlet (herself) and one 'T'Ossprey  

Ah so she is honest to the region she belongs to then   

Aye, even though her 'region' has given up on where she's from - she's a blydi Gog   

Notch wrote:

thebandwagonsociety wrote:The Irish inter-provincials have been shuffled up.

Leinster hosting Munster in Aviva first weekend in October.

The Christmas/New Year period has Leinster hosting Connacht, @Munster (on Stephen's Day), hosting Ulster.

Very happy, Definite disadvantage for Ulster to have Leinster and Munster with a very short turnaround every year whilst Leinster and Munster have an 'easy' game against Connacht.

Now that I've said that, Ulster will lose to Connacht over the Christmas period

Murphy's law.
Mind you, have you ever watched Connacht play Leinster? There is something about the blue jerseys (and the scattering of disgruntled leinster kidlets in that squad) that really makes them up their game. If they played with that intensity against the other sides in the pro12 they would be top 6 easily.

When does 'the Marmite' kick off?

Scrumpy wrote:When does 'the Marmite' kick off?

thats a stupid nickname

thebandwagonsociety wrote:

Notch wrote:

thebandwagonsociety wrote:The Irish inter-provincials have been shuffled up.

Leinster hosting Munster in Aviva first weekend in October.

The Christmas/New Year period has Leinster hosting Connacht, @Munster (on Stephen's Day), hosting Ulster.

Very happy, Definite disadvantage for Ulster to have Leinster and Munster with a very short turnaround every year whilst Leinster and Munster have an 'easy' game against Connacht.

Now that I've said that, Ulster will lose to Connacht over the Christmas period

Murphy's law.
Mind you, have you ever watched Connacht play Leinster? There is something about the blue jerseys (and the scattering of disgruntled leinster kidlets in that squad) that really makes them up their game.  If they played with that intensity against the other sides in the pro12 they would be top 6 easily.

I thought it was Guinness not Murphys that were the sponsors?

GoodinTightSpaces wrote:

Scrumpy wrote:When does 'the Marmite' kick off?

thats a stupid nickname

You either love it or hate it.  

But Marmite was originally a by-product of beer making, so I think it fits rather well.

Will the Marmite be on S4C/bbc2 wales this year?

Penfro - sympathies mate, that said your Italian weekend should be a good one. After all it should be two wins, and decent weather. You don't happen to know some of the fixture gods?

RDW_Scotland wrote:I suppose it says a lot about the BBC that the Guinness sponsorship announcement is well down the stories on the front page of their website, and the England woman's team squad announcement gets bigger billing on the rugby page!

The list is in most recent order so as new articles come in the older ones get pushed down.

Adam D wrote:

thebandwagonsociety wrote:

Notch wrote:

thebandwagonsociety wrote:The Irish inter-provincials have been shuffled up.

Leinster hosting Munster in Aviva first weekend in October.

The Christmas/New Year period has Leinster hosting Connacht, @Munster (on Stephen's Day), hosting Ulster.

Very happy, Definite disadvantage for Ulster to have Leinster and Munster with a very short turnaround every year whilst Leinster and Munster have an 'easy' game against Connacht.

Now that I've said that, Ulster will lose to Connacht over the Christmas period

Murphy's law.
Mind you, have you ever watched Connacht play Leinster? There is something about the blue jerseys (and the scattering of disgruntled leinster kidlets in that squad) that really makes them up their game.  If they played with that intensity against the other sides in the pro12 they would be top 6 easily.

I thought it was Guinness not Murphys that were the sponsors?

Very good sir!   

I haven't been on 606 much, but Guinness being the sponsors was announced on the ESPNscrum website a couple of days ago. Or at least it said they were 'favourites' to be.

I'm disappointed with some of the snide comments aimed at PRL by the usual suspects. The level of animosity on here by some people towards all things English is the reason I rarely bother with V2 these days. There are a few English numpties who dish it out the other way - they are equally offputting.

Anyway, I hope you all find out exact dates and times for your teams' fixtures asap.

Anyone heard any details about the deal?

The Scotsman newspaper says it is for 2 years and 'significantly' more money than the Pro 12 deal.

RDW - lots of articles about the news* but no one is mentioning money, if that's what you mean. The articles are remarkably similar which suggests they are written from a Pro12 press release.

I am sure that the money side is all in hand. I assume the unions rather than the clubs will get the money to share out. If so the divvy up will be interesting

* Walesonline ran the story but couldn't resist tagging this para on at the end

"Meanwhile, the wait for a resolution to the long-running dispute between the WRU and the regions continues."

Usually the rule of thumb is that if no money is mentioned it's gone down or it's not very much (last Aviva deal was probably for less than previous). But it's difficult to say.

Slight side note, is there anything about BBC showing games? I keep seeing stuff about Sky but nothing about BBCW, Alba or NI. Is TG4 (?) showing it still?

HammerofThunor wrote:
Slight side note, is there anything about BBC showing games? I keep seeing stuff about Sky but nothing about BBCW, Alba or NI. Is TG4 (?) showing it still?

According to the ESPN Scrum:

Sky will show 30 matches from the Celtic league plus the semi-finals and the final. Reports in the Telegraph claim the deal will work alongside existing broadcast contracts for the PRO12 with the league currently being shown on BBC ALBA, BBC Northern Ireland, RTE, TG4, BBC Wales and S4C.

No word on whether Sky have first refusal or if other broadcasters can show the games Sky are showing as well.

30 games isn't very much though - not far off one game a week plus the semi and final.

I read somewhere that Sky have first refusal to select a fixture. But they are then prohibited from the return fixture. There has also been some mention that they are limited to a maximum of 2 home fixtures for any specific club during the season.

So if for example, Sky snap up Leinster/Munster in the Aviva (a popular fixture) then TG4 will be able to show the Christmas period return leg.

These clauses might be just for the Irish broadcasters though, so maybe things are different for other territories.

A good bit has been mentioned about Ulster run in, you could see those games being targetted by Sky, say 3 of the last four matches.

You pick up half of the Welsh derbies and the 1872 (can never remember the date so apologies for that in advance) and season opener being Glasgow hosting Leinster and you are already have a good number of fixtures for Sky already identified.

The 1872 games are around Christmas then the return leg is after new year.

I'm torn as to whether I think it would be a good or bad thing if Sky had the sole coverage of those games- on one hand it would increase the exposure of the games and Scottish rugby, but not everyone has Sky and Alba have been a faithful broadcaster of Scottish rugby and the majority of Scottish rugby fans have grown fond of their coverage (even though it is in Gaelic!).

Is the Sky package for 33 games a season or 33 games over the 4 years of the deal? It wasn't clear to me.

Regional BBC will definitely have some games. I watch selected games via my satellite box (no Sky). Well I record them and watch them the next morning as I'm usually out when they're on.

RDW_Scotland wrote:The 1872 games are around Christmas then the return leg is after new year.

I'm torn as to whether I think it would be a good or bad thing if Sky had the sole coverage of those games- on one hand it would increase the exposure of the games and Scottish rugby, but not everyone has Sky and Alba have been a faithful broadcaster of Scottish rugby and the majority of Scottish rugby fans have grown fond of their coverage (even though it is in Gaelic!).

No need for Sky or any other broadcaster to have total and exclusive coverage of anything.  And rather than a mixture of platforms being considered a nuisance factor to good business, I think that mixture will actually increase as sporting codes begin to play even smarter games with different platforms for multi-coverage deals and expanded audience levels.

Monopoly is not a good thing - and neither SKY nor BT nor any other Major Player should have it - even if they're prepared to pay a fortune to buy those monopoly rights.

RDW_Scotland wrote:

HammerofThunor wrote:
Slight side note, is there anything about BBC showing games? I keep seeing stuff about Sky but nothing about BBCW, Alba or NI. Is TG4 (?) showing it still?

According to the ESPN Scrum:

Sky will show 30 matches from the Celtic league plus the semi-finals and the final. Reports in the Telegraph claim the deal will work alongside existing broadcast contracts for the PRO12 with the league currently being shown on BBC ALBA, BBC Northern Ireland, RTE, TG4, BBC Wales and S4C.

No word on whether Sky have first refusal or if other broadcasters can show the games Sky are showing as well.

30 games isn't very much though - not far off one game a week plus the semi and final.

RDW, the current BBC deal has run out and I haven't seen anything saying a new one has been signed. Back in January it sounded like they were waiting for the Welsh Issue to be sorted.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/bbc-wales-yet-commit-deal-6466953

No idea on Alba/Scotland and NI. I can't see them not showing so games.

I also agree with Fly. It would be better if (for example) BBCW show the Welsh away games. That way they would be encouraged to go to home games. Not sure how that works when so many people have access to multiple BBC channels.

Hound of Harrow wrote:Is the Sky package for 33 games a season or 33 games over the 4 years of the deal? It wasn't clear to me.

Regional BBC will definitely have some games. I watch selected games via my satellite box (no Sky). Well I record them and watch them the next morning as I'm usually out when they're on.

It's 33 a season. Basically a straight replacement for the lost Premiership games. Roughly one a week.

Cheers HoT. That makes sense now that BT have the Prem games.