BT must not hold the Premiership to ransom

BT Sports has been good for Premiership Rugby, investing a lot of money, and a lot of time and effort in providing excellent coverage, but when it comes to major issues in the game, should they be reporting the facts, or expounding their views?

- COLIN BOAG

The moratorium on relegation was announced on Friday last week, and that evening BT Sport were covering the Gloucester v Bristol match. This gave their front man, Craig Doyle, the perfect opportunity to vent his views on the issue – or maybe he was just following the company’s party line?

In the first five minutes he mentioned the moratorium on relegation no fewer than five times, and then kept doing his level best to drag everyone else into the debate. It was full of generalisations – allegedly interest in the league ‘fell off a cliff ’ last season once Saracens were relegated. Really? According to Doyle, fans are protective about relegation, but I went through each and every club’s supporters websites, and that just didn’t stand up: yes there are views for and against, but what surprised me was how few people went online to express them. That was possibly because this has dragged on for so long that people are bored with it, and know their views don’t count for much, or maybe they just want to watch the rugby?