Red Bull Newcastle

[Which Tyler]

Probably deserves a thread of its own now:

Red Bull agree deal to buy Newcastle Falcons and keep Premiership club afloat
Article suggests that it's not just a done deal, but that they're planning on staying in Newcastle, rather than relocating to Darlington as had been rumoured.

A big TFFT for all of it, IMO


Also mentioned in passing is this little paragraph

Viewing figures for Premiership matches on TNT Sport are up 10% on last season before Saturday’s final between Bath and Leicester, with the increase 47% when the game directly follows a Premier League match.

ETA: Redone the link

[FKAS]

All positives for the sport in this country. The north east has plenty of local players and the continuation of Falcons is required to provide that pipeline for England. Red Bull coming in won't change things over night but in time it should be a massive benefit.

[Danno]

That's really good news.*

*castle

Link is dead though WT?

[Puja]

Excellent news for the game and the league! Hopefully will allow Newcastle to keep hold of their young talent and start building, a la Sale. I especially love the plans to build the fanbase with targetting students and partnering with the football - these kind of things need a plan, rather than just hoping people find the sport, and Red Bull are very good at it.

In related news, the Premiership is rebranding from next year, to be officially known as "The Gallagher Prem", on the basis that that's how the young folk speak. Seems risible to me, but hey ho.

Puja

[fivepointer]

A good thing. The game needs a presence in all parts of the country and a viable team in Newcastle should be welcomed.

[TheNomad]

This is excellent news. Feels like English rugby can be slightly more optimistic (albeit cautiously so) given some recent developments.

The teams seem generally stronger (as you’d expect), and there’s good depth at (most clubs). Moreover, the style of rugby is a great watch.

As others have said, this could be great for Newcastle

[francoisfou]

Good news, indeed, even if it may take a couple of seasons for them to become more competitive.

[Mikey Brown]

Good news, indeed, even if it may take a couple of seasons for them to become more competitive.

Shame they’re having to do it without guys like McGuigan, Blamire, Davison, Pepper, Chick, WHW, Radwan and that Sarries prop whose name escapes me.

Obviously that’s just the way things go, but still that’s a lot of quality that’s slipped away in the last couple of seasons.

[Scrumhead]

Good news, indeed, even if it may take a couple of seasons for them to become more competitive.

Yeah, the timing of this isn’t particularly helpful given how late it is in the window for signing new players. Even if they have the money to attract high calibre players, availability is still going to be a problem.

On the plus side, they should be in a good position to pick up some decent out of contract Premiership players who might have been hesitant to join when their finances looked precarious.

[FKAS]

It is very late but I imagine the due diligence and risk assessment was a pig.

Diamond is just the coach for a bit of wheeling and dealing in the current market. The loss of some of the recent academy talent it is a huge loss they could have done without. Keeping the next few generations will be massive for them and something high on the Red Bull agenda no doubt.

[Puja]

It is late, but it is very much a buyer's market still for players, even with Worcester hoovering up a load of loose talent.

Diamond is just the coach for a bit of wheeling and dealing in the current market. The loss of some of the recent academy talent it is a huge loss they could have done without. Keeping the next few generations will be massive for them and something high on the Red Bull agenda no doubt.

Very much agreed on Diamond - I think he'll get the Spanish Archer when the time to spend serious money happens, but he is so good at turning low-grade players into a middling team. If you think about how close he got Newcastle to being competitive this season, they won't actually need that much additional quality to avoid finishing bottom.

Puja