Liverpool and Manchester United’s owners are ready to go head-to-head by buying teams in the new rugby rebel league threatening to rip up the sport and create a brand new global structure by ploughing in millions of pounds of fresh investment.
Fenway Sports Group – who own Liverpool, the Boston Red Sox and various other sports franchises – the Glazer family – who own more than 70 per cent of United – and Red Bull are among the parties interested in becoming franchise owners in R360, the proposed new breakaway league.
Mail Sport can today reveal the bombshell plans that are gathering rapid momentum – with half the England squad provisionally agreeing to flee to the rebel league, which is promising million-dollar salaries and is primed to begin in just over a year on free-to-air television.
R360, which is being driven by England’s 2003 World Cup winner Mike Tindall and leading agent Mark Spoors, wants to create ‘generational change’ in the sport and plans are well underway for the first season to begin in September 2026.
The organisers are understood to have secured backing for the proposed new eight men’s teams at a cost of circa £15million each – small change to the likes of Fenway, the Glazers and Red Bull.
Fenway have spent just shy of £300m acquiring new Liverpool players this summer, with another potential £150m on the way in the shape of key target Alexander Isak of Newcastle United.
Liverpool owner John W Henry and his Fenway Sports Group are eyeing up an R360 franchise
The Glazer family, who own Manchester United with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, are also interested
While it remains unclear where the central funding to set up R360 is coming from, Tindall and Spoors have been able to attract heavy-hitting external investment in order to sign the best players from around the world.
Contracts worth up to $1m (£740,000) a season are being offered to some of rugby’s biggest names.
A leading source told Mail Sport: ‘I would be amazed if it doesn’t happen now. This is going to be revolutionary for rugby. The British club game is in a bit of a mess – there are players queuing up to join.’
The league has set a deadline of September to sign up the roughly 200 players needed. Mail Sport has learned that at least 10 of the 23 players in England’s squad for their final Six Nations game in March have agree in principle to join R360, which is the talk of the rugby player community.
The first season of R360 is slated to run between September and December of 2026 with just eight games in total as the competition beds in. Plans for campaigns two and three include a maximum of 16 games for each season – something which is attractive to players from a welfare perspective given the workload would be significantly less than at club level.
R360 plans to give players 12 weeks off per year, and provision for two family trips to join the players on their global travels.
Clearly, the money on offer is appealing too. R360’s player signings are being led by Leigh Hinton who, like Spoors, has joined the rebel league’s staff from global sports agency Wasserman. There are more than 30 people working to get R360 up and running.
George Ford and Jamie George, two members of England’s 100-cap club are in the sights of the new league’s organisers
Henry Slade, who was represented at Wasserman by R360 recruitment head Leigh Hinton, is also on the league’s radar
Senior England stars Henry Slade, George Ford and Jamie George – who have a combined 275 England caps – are leading targets for R360. Slade was represented by Hinton prior to him leaving Wasserman. Hinton played professionally for Leeds and Newport Gwent Dragons before retiring in 2012.
At present, England players who join R360 would have to give up their Test careers to do so, due to the RFU’s rules on only Premiership players being available for selection, buy R360 organisers want the league to work alongside international rugby.
That is a big stumbling block as the RFU rule is a key part of the Professional Game Partnership between the RFU and the Premiership, signed last September and running for eight years, while the same home-based ruling also applies to players in Ireland and New Zealand.
However, the money and opportunities on offer with R360 are so significant that it is likely some players may be willing to forgo Test selection to join – much as many players who currently seek the riches and elite talent level of France’s Top14.
It is understood the eight men’s teams will eventually have squads of 35 players each and be based in London, Tokyo, Dubai, Cape Town, Boston, Miami and two other venues still to be decided. In time, four women’s sides will also be created.
To play in the first season of R360, players who sign must be out of contract with their existing club employers by the summer of 2026, which would rule out Lions and Premiership superstars Marcus Smith and Finn Russell for now as their deals expire in 2028. But it is understood R360 have a war chest available buy out existing contracts if needed.
The new league plans to play matches in different locations around the globe, following a Formula 1-style model. Players and coaches taking part will be tasked with a remit to entertain and grow rugby’s appeal by delivering an attacking and enterprising style of play. Holding matches in places with good weather will help with that.
R360 is said to have already secured a title sponsor and broadcast deal with the tournament likely to be screened on free-to-air television initially, while partnership deals with Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok are also being explored.
Marcus Smith and Finn Russell remain under contract until 2028 with Harlequins and Bath respectively
Tokyo is among the six venues to be selected, with two more still to be named
A player draft – similar to the one used in cricket’s Indian Premier League – to see who plays for which team will be broadcast.
Another plan would be for R360 teams to come together for pre-season in one location, such as Red Bull’s base in Austria. Red Bull are already heavily involved in F1 and professional football, but are now making their first steps into rugby, having agreed a deal to buy Premiership side Newcastle Falcons.
R360 want to empower player brands to grow rugby’s appeal. ‘This can take rugby to another level commercially,’ a source said.
R360 declined to comment.
