it seems any talk of franchising depends on the NZ/Wales model where they take the current teams and combine them into x amount of team rather than the NA model. IMHO the premiership essentially tried a half-ass version of the NA model with the P-shares.
The big 4 NA sports leagues were formed by teams organizing together to create better negotiating power, regular schedules, and rules about honoring each other contracts. Were teams excluded, yes, but very rarely were they forced to merge. The original teams then decided which markets they would expand to next.
Now the RFU has the ability to regulate schedules and player eligibility but maybe the top teams think they could do better on the commercial side. If English rugby were to embrace franchises I imagine it would be something like the p-shares combined with the super league licensing system. Except instead of IMG doing the grading it would be the original clubs.
always thought that Super Rugby sacrificed international popularity in an attempt to appease the neglected provincial teams. One of the beauties of sport is learning about locations that are not your own. It's how I learned about American and Canadian cities that weren't Philadelphia or New York and it's how I learned (and continue to learn) about the world. Also the provinces have really cool logos and uniforms while the franchises look like they were made in a 1990s comic book.
