What is R360?

What is R360?

There’s been a fair bit of chatter in rugby union and rugby league circles lately about a new competition called R360. Multi-million dollar offers have been put to a selection of star players across the world to lure them over, and there’s been a strong reaction from both codes who want to block that from happening. So in this Squiz Shortcut, we’ll take a look at:

• what the new competition is

• how it would work

• and what the reaction to it has been…

Prefer this in your ears?

Listen to our podcast 🎧

Listen time: 12 minutes

Squiz the Shortcut

Let’s jump right in, what is R360?
Stand down Star Wars fans, it’s not a new droid… It’s a new global rugby union competition that aims to have a shorter ‘grand prix’ style season with a series of matches held in major cities, rather than a traditional home-and-away league. There’s some high profile people driving it, and they’re coming for our top talent with offers of big money. 

How would it work?
Reports say the comp plans to field 6 to 8 men's teams and 4 women’s teams starting from October next year, with expansion slated for 2027… And when they say ‘grand prix’ style season, they mean a rugby take on Formula One. So, a festival-type atmosphere with high-end sponsors, taking place on a circuit of cities that include London, Tokyo, Miami, Dubai, Cape Town and Madrid. And, to say the least, it’s caused quite a stir…

What’s been happening?
Talk of the new comp has been bubbling away for months, but things have come to a head in the past couple of weeks, with both rugby union and rugby league taking some strong steps to keep their players from jumping ship… 

What sort of steps?
On the union side, 8 of the world’s top rugby nations - New Zealand, South Africa, England, France, Italy, Ireland, Scotland and us here in Oz - have signed a joint statement saying any player who joins R360 will be ineligible for international selection, meaning they wouldn’t be able to play for their countries. 

So, for Aussie players, it’d mean…?
Not playing for the Wallabies. So, no World Cup, no tours, no Test matches… And it’s not just union - last week, the NRL put its foot down too… 

What has the NRL threatened to do?
Its boss Peter V’Landys said any player who signed onto R360 would be banned for 10 years, along with any players’ agents who helped to broker the deal…

Yikes… So who’s behind the new competition?
One of the cofounders is Mike Tindall. His name might ring a bell for a couple of reasons - he’s married to Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara, and he’s a former English rugby union star. He was part of England’s World Cup winning side in 2003 - yep, the one that beat us in the final thanks to a drop goal by Jonny Wilkinson in extra time.

That needed a trigger warning… What has he done since then?
He retired from rugby in 2014, and he’s built a career as a businessman and a media personality - he also co-hosts a podcast: The Good, The Bad & The Rugby. In the R360 venture, he’s joined by former director of Rugby at Bath, Stuart Hooper, sports agent Mark Spoors, and a lawyer named John Loffhagen who was involved in setting up the LIV Golf series… That’s notable because a lot of people are drawing a line between LIV Golf and the new rugby comp, with some critics saying that R360 is set to disrupt the rugby codes the same way LIV Golf did the PGA Tour.

Can I get a quick catch up on that…
Sure… LIV Golf is a breakaway competition that shook up the world of golf when it began in 2022. It’s financed by the Saudi Arabian government, which has attracted quite a bit of controversy due to concerns over the country's human rights record. And it split the PGA Tour down the middle by attracting high-profile players who switched for lucrative contracts… 

Just wondering… What does the LIV stand for?
It’s the Roman numeral for 54, which is the number of holes played in each tournament… As for what R360 means, the group hasn’t publicly said. What we do know is that the new comp differs from LIV Golf in that organisers say they want it to work within the existing rugby structure, rather than in opposition to it. 

Who’s funding R360?
Private investment from Saudi Arabia is partly involved, but R360 also has other backers from the US and UK. Tindall and co say they have 3 years’ worth of finances locked in for an October 2026 launch. And then there’s the money on offer to players…

What sort of money are we talking?
There’s reports of some players being offered contracts worth up to $12 million over 3 years. That’s not just attractive to union players, it’s turned the heads of some of the biggest stars in the NRL too.

Who’s in their sights?
Some of the players named in media reports as having been approached include the man of the match in the recent grand final, Broncos fullback Reece Walsh, also Panthers star Nathan Cleary, the Storm’s Cameron Munster and Ryan Papenhuyzen, and Broncos prop Payne Haas. So, some very big names…

And what’s the problem with them taking advantage of this opportunity?
Apart from draining our talent pool, something both codes are concerned about is that R360’s focus on profits would come at the expense of grassroots development and the long-term sustainability of the sports.

Unpack that for me…
Sure… So, R360’s recruitment strategy focuses on ‘cherry-picking’ top talent with offers that established leagues can’t easily match. This not only removes the biggest drawcard players for fans to watch live, it takes advantage of the training and development paths that clubs/nations have put so much time and effort into building from a junior/grassroots level. On top of that, there’s still a lot of unknowns about it…

What don’t we know yet?
The NRL’s chief, Peter V’Landys, reckons it’s “a competition out of a Corn Flakes box”. He says there’s not enough clarity around its business plan, and that players would be risking their careers if they went near it. Then again, he followed up that dismissal by announcing those 10-year bans for any players who signed up - which is an indication that perhaps it is something he’s taking more seriously. 

Is it legal to ban players from other competitions?
The Rugby League Players’ Association has already said it’s likely the ban would be challenged in court, so we could be hearing a lot more on that point in the future… And over in rugby union, as we mentioned, the reaction’s been a coordinated, joint statement by most of the top 10 nations against it. So there’s a lot to bed down before the competition becomes a reality…

What other hurdles does team R360 have to jump?
The competition still needs to be sanctioned by the Rugby World Council (which doesn’t meet again until next June), and details around franchising, insurance, broadcasting deals and players need to be tightened up - then there’s the friction with the international rugby community to be resolved… And time is ticking - there’s a Men’s Rugby World Cup next year ( in Australia) and it’s still not clear how R360 would fit into the existing rugby calendar.

What do the organisers say about all of this?
They disagree that the comp will be disruptive - they’re willing to release players for international games and they say the established leagues are the ones standing in the way. And while all of that plays out, local codes are making moves to shore up their talent.

What are they doing?
Australian Rugby Union has been especially proactive. They’ve had a resurgence in interest and money since the British and Irish Lions tour of Oz earlier this year, and they've been working hard to secure players through to the World Cup.

Got any examples?
Yep, they’ve just offered one of their young stars, Max Jorgensen, a rare 5-year deal to ensure he sticks around, because losing players like him would undermine those plans… 

So, how many players might take it up?
Reports say 200 players have been approached internationally, but it’s not known how many have actually signed up… And while there’s some intrigue around R360, some commentators say the new comp might be underestimating the deep emotional ties that come with playing for your country, particularly for kids in Oz, NZ and South Africa. 

What are they saying?
They say that the risk of not playing in a home World Cup would be a huge drawback for any aspiring/existing Wallabies. So in rugby union at least, we might see most top-tier players hold off until after the World Cup before making a call. But by then, if R360’s up and running, the choice could be much tougher…

And if the product is good…
No matter how rusted-on and loyal fans are to their clubs, experts say that if R360 serves up fast, exciting rugby with the best players on the plane, it could win people over. That’s what the backers are betting on - and whether it crashes, or transforms the sport, it’s definitely shaking things up…

Your holiday shop just got 10 times better

Skincare, perfume, gifts, whatever - Lotte Duty Free has 10x Qantas Points on online orders right now. Which means that the holiday shopping you were lining up is now working a lot harder for your next getaway. You can order from home or swing by any Lotte Duty Free location for the same duty-free prices - either way, the points stack up fast. Find out more here.

Onto our Recommendations

Reading: This explainer by ESPN all about the new competition and how it’d potentially work…

Reading: This piece by author, columnist, and former Wallaby Peter FitzSimons (paywall) in the Sydney Morning Herald which looks at whether existing codes have the right to stop their players from looking sideways at a new competition. It’s behind a paywall, but worth a read if you’ve got a Herald or an Age subscription.

Recent Shortcuts