Former international rugby union referee Ed Morrison insisted clubs rely heavily on broadcasting after the sport has suffered financially in recent years.
With the 2025 Six Nations in full flow, the buzz around the sport is back for a short while.
The viewing figures of international rugby will always remain high and generate substantial revenue, but this is not the case for English clubs domestically, leading to many players, from the likes of Kyle Sinckler to Owen Farrell, deciding to go abroad for financial gain.
“The professional game costs a lot of money,” said Morrison, who refereed the 1995 Rugby World Cup final and stood side by side with Nelson Mandela.
“There’s not many Steve Lansdown’s [Billionaire owner of Bristol Bears] around, and the only way that the clubs can survive, and the French prove this, is through broadcasting. That’s why players go to France, because they generate so much money through it.
“Unfortunately, in England, they don’t generate the same money through broadcasting, and that has an adverse effect, because if you’re a young player now and you say, ‘I’ve got a short career; I’ve got to earn as much money as I can’, and you get a big offer from France or Japan, common sense tells you you’re going to go there.”
Morrison added: “You can’t blame anybody for that. So, there’s lots of change going on, and it will continue to change. Nothing stays the same.”
The Rugby Football Union has continued to stick to their policy of not selecting players who play overseas for the England national team in an attempt to keep the country’s best talent in the Gallagher Premiership.
“I think it’s an interesting point. There are a lot of people who think they should change, but there is a downside to that as people like to see the best players,” said the Bristolian.
“If you’re paying £50 a game, you want to see the best players. So, it is a dilemma. The professional game is still coming to terms with being professional.
“Football has had that for 50 years, whereas rugby just 25 years now. Financially, it’s struggling; there’s no question about that. How you overcome that, I don’t know. The French have overcome it in one way, through broadcasting. They have five TV channels and put a lot of money into the game.
“There’s nowhere near that coming to English clubs. Most are financially struggling badly, and we have lost three professional clubs in the last couple of years.”
Rugby’s decline is also down to participation. In 2024, only eight percent of children and 223,000 people in England were regularly playing the sport. However, the attendances within stadiums have increased year on year.
“One of the knock-ons in the professional game is that more people are going to watch it now, instead of playing it,” revealed Morrison.
“There are fewer adult males playing rugby now than there were when I started playing. I think it’s the kind of environment we live in at the moment, as people are stuck for cash.
“If you’re self-employed, you bust your shoulder, and you can’t work, you don’t get paid. So, there’s that to it. I think the other one is the social aspect of watching. Enjoying it and going home, and you aren’t injured or waking up stiff in the morning.
“And particularly for young people, there’s much more choice. When I was young, it was either rugby or football.
“Rugby’s competing, both on the pitch and off the pitch, for people. But since the game went professional, the crowds at club level have just gone up and up and up.”
Keep up to date with all the latest sports news from around Gloucestershire by clicking HERE!
