Proposed R360 series delays launch until 2028
by Mike Henson · BBC SportR360, the proposed global rugby series targetting the game's top stars, has pushed back its launch date two years to 2028, raising doubts over the project's viability.
"The decision to shift our launch to 2028 is a strategic decision based on timing," said R360 board member and former England centre Mike Tindall.
"Launching under compressed timelines would not meet the standards we set for R360, nor would it deliver the long-term commercial impact that the sport deserves."
Eight leading Test nations, along with the British and Irish Lions, have banned any R360 recruits from combining the new venture with their international careers.
Australian rugby league's NRL has threatened any player who switches to R360 with a 10-year ban from its competition. Any player who had signed up for the proposed launch in 2026 will now have their contracts terminated.
In an email to players, seen by the BBC, R360 co-founder Stuart Hooper said he appreciated the news would come as a "shock to some, and disappointing for all", but reiterated the desire for a launch in 2028 and for R360 to become an established part of the rugby calendar.
However, sources in the English club game say the R360 founders are "panicking" and don't have the financial backing or players to launch.
R360's initial aim of an inaugural event in October 2026, with eight men's and four women's teams, had been put under pressure by organisers' failure to secure sanctioning from World Rugby.
After receiving more than 100 pages of plans from R360, the game's governing body had questions over the staging of the event and whether players would be released for international action.
The earliest that World Rugby could have ratified R360 was in June, just four months before the new circuit's planned start.
"Ensuring player welfare, supporting their international ambitions, and working collaboratively with the global game remain core to our approach," added Tindall, who had said in September that R360 was "on plan and, in certain areas, ahead of plan".
R360's decision to delay for two years means it will avoid attempting to launch in the same year as the men's Rugby World Cup and a landmark first women's Lions tour.
However the inaugural Club World Cup - an event that brings together the best domestic sides from both hemispheres that was accelerated by the threat of R360 - is also planned for 2028.
R360 now faces the challenge of restarting its recruitment of players, having suffered several snubs in its initial drive for stars.
Sale and England fly-half George Ford turned down an approach, with Northampton's Fin Smith, another reported target, also extending his contract with his existing club.
Global superstars Finn Russell and Antoine Dupont have also renewed deals with Bath and Toulouse respectively while R360 have been attempting to fill their roster.
R360 insists that it had 200 players signed up to provisional agreements, and that the coordinated move against their venture by leading Test nations and the prospect of a decade-long NRL ban caused only a handful to step away.
"As a Board we remain absolutely determined to bring R360 to life at full scale and with maximum global impact. We're building something bold and new that will resonate globally - and we cannot wait to show the world in 2028," added Tindall.
R360 announced Scottish businessman Martin Gilbert, who was involved in unsuccessful talks to launch a third Scottish professional rugby team in Aberdeen a decade ago, as chairman and investor.
Gilbert has been involved in the project since at least December 2024, having been appointed as a director of a company alongside Hooper and fellow R360 backer Mark Spoors, a prominent agent.
Analysis
By
Mike Henson
BBC Sport rugby union news reporter
R360's aim is to lock fans of international rugby into the sport more regularly, while attracting new audiences.
Their approach is ambitious; to sign up the game's biggest names to newly-minted franchise teams and take the whole event on a globe-trotting itinerary around the world's most exciting cities.
New York's MetLife Stadium, Barcelona's Nou Camp and Dublin's Croke Park were touted as possible venues, along with a promise to create a weekend-long spectacle featuring music acts, celebrity appearances and fan zone areas.
Last month, along with an operations director role, R360 was advertising for a Head of Celebrity Management who would build relationships with stars from outside sport to ensure their event had the maximum possible impact.
However, the challenges it faces are large.
Rugby's congested calendar means finding space in which a roster drawn from both hemispheres and genders can appear at the same events is tricky.
R360's initial plans clashed with the Women's Six Nations, while the Rugby Championship was also squeezed.
Without ensuring players can be free to take part in Tests, ratification from World Rugby will always be out of reach and recruits are likely to have to choose between R360 and their nations.
The costs involved in transporting and setting up the roadshow model are considerable, while players need to be heavily compensated to be lured out of the established clubs.
Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson estimated recently that R360 were offering a third more than players could earn in the Prem.
After one false start, that premium may need to be increased for a 2028 launch.
With different time zones making a regular broadcast slot impossible, it is thought that R360 are banking on ticket sales and future franchise sales to generate income, but a start-up event in markets unfamiliar with rugby needs substantial marketing to cut through.
R360 have given themselves two more years to juggle those issues. Will it be enough?