Six Nations Championship
Six Nations and RBS sitting on new agreement
Scrum.com
December 18, 2008

The Six Nations Committe and title sponsors RBS have reportedly agreed a new and improved four-year deal to extend their current partnership until 2013.

The Guardian reports that the multi-million pound deal was agreed before the bank became a high-profile victim of the current financial crisis and was taken over by the UK government.

The newspaper states that the deal is believed to be a 25% increase on the current £16m four-year contract that expires following next year's Championship. The deal was negotiated in the close season and, "has been kept quiet for fears of a public outcry after the government used taxpayers' money to take a 57% stake in the bank".

RBS is reported this week to have suffered a £400m loss from the American financier Bernard Madoff's vast investment fraud and it has maintained a discreet silence about its future plans in sport sponsorship in recent weeks.

The Six Nations wanted to announce the deal, which will extend RBS's involvement with the tournament to 10 years, before the start of next year's matches. The newspaper adds that officials are adamant that the new contract is watertight but they share RBS's sensitivity over public disclosure.

The BBC has also agreed a new four-year contract with the Six Nations after this season. The two deals will be reportedly worth at least an extra £1m a year to each of the four home unions.

© Scrum.com

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