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It’s been a big 12 months for the Guinness PRO14.

They’ve had their first season with an expanded format following the addition of South African sides the Cheetahs and the Southern Kings.

Now there’s a new TV deal in place , with Premier Sports taking over as UK broadcast rights holders from the BBC and Sky.

So why did PRO14 opt to go with the little known subscription channel and what can we expect in terms of their coverage?

Plus, what are the prospects of the competition expanding again with more South African teams coming on board?

Rugby correspondent Simon Thomas put these and other questions to tournament chief executive Martin Anayi.

(Image: INPHO/Gary Carr)

Q: What are your reflections looking back on the first season as an expanded PRO14?

A: Well, I guess most notably our attendances were up, which was great. That is our main barometer of how things are going.

We had a record crowd for the final, while attendances overall were up 10-11 per cent and the top eight teams in the league were up by 15 per cent.

The figures for the Scarlets were even better again.

For them to have an average of 10,000 people coming to games is a serious achievement when you consider they are a very small area. People don’t give them enough credit.

It just shows when sides are doing well, crowds go up.

Q: How do you feel the introduction of the two South African sides has worked out?

A: It has been overwhelmingly positive.

It’s transformed the league both on and off the field and been incredibly successful. We are delighted with how well it has gone.

We’ve not really had the kind of issues that one might have expected from expanding a major tournament.

That’s largely down to the hard work that was put in up front and just the positivity from all parties.

When people are open and willing and there’s reciprocity, things get a lot done a lot quicker and in the right way. That is what we got in South Africa, from the Union, the two teams and the broadcasters Super Sport, while our own team put in a huge amount of effort to get it over the line in time.

Everyone wanted it to happen and, as a result, it came together pretty quickly.

Q: We know it’s brought in significant TV revenue, but what about the rugby side of things?

A: A few people in South Africa didn’t realise the quality of the competition.

It hadn’t been covered over there. There was a lot of Top 14, Aviva Premiership and Heineken Cup shown, but not our league.

There wasn’t an in-depth knowledge of what the PRO14 was like.

So the quality was a bit of a shock for some people down there. They now realise this is serious stuff.

(Image: Â©INPHO/Billy Stickland)

The Cheetahs obviously fared the better of the two sides. They were very difficult to beat at home and it was a real achievement for them to reach the play-offs in their first season.

Their main target now is to take that home form on the road with them. If they can do that, they will be a serious force and pushing for the play-offs again.

It was always likely to be a tough year for the Southern Kings and so it proved.

They scored a lot of tries, now they will be looking to improve on their defence.

They have ambitions and are doing a lot of building off the field. They have got a few exciting announcements to come.

A lot of players come through that Eastern Cape region. The current Springboks captain, Siya Kolisi, is from Port Elizabeth.

The provincial union is not as financially strong as Western Province or Natal and players tend to go to the Stormers or the Sharks.

They’ve got to create a model that allows them to keep players and not lose them to other franchises. If they can do that, they will be very competitive, and that’s the goal. I expect them to step up over the next couple of years.

Q: There has been speculation about further South African sides coming on board. What can you tell us about that?

A: We are on record as saying we want to keep on expanding.

We go through a check list of main items when it comes to prospective teams and if all the boxes are ticked - the business case, the fan case, the competitive case - we look at it.

South Africa makes a lot of sense for us from a structural point of view, so we will definitely look at them again.

We have got to grow the league in a way that is sustainable and workable.

I think the best number for our competition is 16.

Strange as it may sound, that will actually allow us to play less rugby.

Going to 16 sides would make that possible. We have worked it out.

Having changed our format, we can be a little more flexible.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

We do believe we need wherever possible to move away from international weekends and play slightly less rugby overall.

That way we have fewer matches where the star names are absent and we reduce the load on players generally.

Tadhg Beirne played 36 matches last season. He is at the peak of his game, but how long can he stay at the peak if he keeps on playing that much.

Q: You have a new TV deal in place for next season, with Premier Sports securing the broadcast rights for the UK and eir Sport taking over in Ireland? How was that decision reached.

A: It was a board decision. We as an executive put together a tender process and received bids. We put the best bid in front of the board and they made the decision. They obviously have input from our clubs. It’s a pretty robust process.

The bid which was accepted was significantly more than the next best offer. We worked hard for that in the process and we are very happy with it.

It puts us in a great position to kick on as a competititon.

It’s an amazing opportunity for rugby fans on both sides of the Irish Sea to follow every single game. That has never been done before in our league and not in England either.

People want to watch all of their team’s games, home and away, and now they can on one channel.

Q: There have been concerns expressed that moving off terrestrial television to pay TV could damage the profile of league. What would you say to that?

A: You are still going to be able to get PRO14 games on free to air through Premier’s sister channel FreeSports.

And if you want to see all the action, you can do via a pay platform through a very good value deal.

The reality is pretty much every professional rugby competition globally is behind a pay barrier now.

If people want to to watch their team every single week, then they can get the subscription at a very reasonable cost.

Q: Some people have also asked “Premier Who?” in the sense they are not known as big players in the market. Was that a concern at all?

A: Media is changing all the time.

Not so long ago, people would have been asking who are Eleven Sports. Now they have secured the rights to La Liga.

Things are moving at breakneck speed in media and the usual dynamic has been thrown up in the air.

You’ve had Sky and BT sharing broadcast rights in football and rugby, which is a new dimension.

Big companies like Amazon and Virgin TV are now looking at the market and you have got new players like Premier Sports and Eleven.

Premier have a simple approach. They are looking to be big in sports that they can compete in.

They will not necessarily touch Premier League. They will leave that to others, but they are looking to make their mark in the rugby market.

Q: What can people expect from Premier Sports in terms of their coverage of the PRO14?

A: They are pretty advanced in terms of getting presenters and pundits on board.

It’s exciting to see how the league is going to be covered and portrayed by them.

I think it will give fans rugby content at a different level.

The investment in production, punditry, marketing and promotion has gone up.

We are working with them, looking at innovation and how we freshen things up.

There are a lot of good story lines out there in terms of covering the competition seven days a week.

You will have a highlights package and a weekly magazine show, with plenty of colour content.

It’s just about giving our competition a lot more depth. We will hear from a lot more players and coaches and it’s chance to tell the positive stories to a wider public.

We are looking at how we are going to roll it all out now. It’s an opportunity for our clubs to be more involved.

We are just very happy with the deal we have got and are looking forward to the partnership kicking in. We are in a good spot.

Q: I understand the basic formula is going to be two matches on a Friday and four on a Saturday, with one more to be fitted in on either day each week?

A: We are working on finalising the schedules at the moment. We are talking to the clubs to see what works for them in terms of kick-off times and there’s a broadcasters meeting this week.

I think people will be happy with what we come up with.

(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)

Q: Will S4C be showing any games live?

A: There will be at least one game a week on free to air. There will be more information to follow on that relatively soon.

Q: You’ve also just signed a three year deal for the RDA agency to market the league’s international distribution rights. How does that work exactly?

A: Basically the contract excludes the UK, Ireland, Italy and South Africa – the territories in which PRO14 teams are based.

The focus will be on growing revenues in core market, as well as increasing our global footprint.

It’s the perfect time to join forces with RDA who have a track record of success when it comes to sports media rights.

We can ensure rugby fans will feel a part of the Guinness PRO14 action no matter where they are.

Q: There was a big improvement in the performances of the Italian teams last season. What do you put that down to?

A: That was certainly a big bonus. Benetton picked up 11 wins and Zebre 7. That’s not bad going on and a really notable step up.

A lot of it comes down to stability.

(Image: Huw Evans Agency)

Once you give teams a stable base to build from, players and coaches will thrive from that. They know they are not going to be turfed out in a year or two. They can build on that basis and go out and recruit.

As soon as Italy lost their automatic spot in the Champions Cup and we went to straight meritocracy, you had Benetton almost going through on results.

That is sports psychology for you. You push yourself when you’ve got to achieve something.

We need to see that improvement continuing over time and the Italian sides really pushing for places in Europe and the play-offs.

It’s our job to make sure that teams 9-14 keep improving to push teams 1-8.

It’s all about getting better every season.

The same is true for the Kings and Dragons.

Are teams getting better? Are things being put in place to ensure that they more competitive? That's what we are always looking at.

Q: Quite a few fans are frustrated that the fixtures for next season aren’t out yet. Can you explain why that’s the case.

A: It’s an incredibly complex process.

It’s completely different to the English or French leagues where all the teams are in the same country and it’s a simple home and away format.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

We’ve got 14 different teams from five countries. We’ve got cross border trips and flights to and from South Africa.

We also have to wait for the football fixtures because there are a number of joint venues.

But we are pretty close to getting the fixtures finalised.

As I say, we’ve got a broadcasters meeting this week and then they will go to clubs first.

They should be out the same time as last year, which was the middle of July.

Q: Will it be the same format as last season or will you re-jig the conferences?

A: It will be the same two conferences, with teams playing the other sides in their section home and away and then teams from the other conference either home or away.

The one change is we will reverse the cross-conference fixtures.

Everybody who had 10 home games last season will have 11 this time around, to give that equity.

And if you only play a team once and were away to them last season, you will be at home this time around.

So we will leave the conferences as they are for this coming season.

That gives us stability and a chance to build rivalries within those conferences.

We will look at that competition again after next season and maybe have a rejig then.

Q: Officiating is always a big talking point with the league. How do you see that developing moving forward?

A: There is big news coming up in terms of the professionalism of referees.

There’s been a lot of work done off season. Our Elite Referee Manager Greg Garner has done an amazing amount of work.

We are basically creating a panel of elite referees.

We are effectively paying for the refs, which is what happening in England and France. It just gives us that high performance.

We are going to see a positive change and we are really happy about that.

It’s all part of moving into a new era.

We are in a good spot right now with the competition, but you always looking down the line at how you can keep moving forward.

That’s why we’ve got a five year plan, looking at how we are going to build the best league in the world.