LONDON (AP) — England’s top-tier professional rugby union competition is scrapping relegation and promotion to move toward a U.S.-style franchise system in a bid to attract long-term investment.

Starting next season, automatic promotion and relegation between the men’s Premiership and second-tier Championship will be replaced by a criteria-based expansion and demotion model.

The Rugby Football Union Council “overwhelmingly approved” the changes in a vote Friday, it said.

The 10-team league plans to add up to two more sides in the 2029-30 season.

“This new expansion model will create investable, globally competitive leagues while expanding rugby’s fanbase, widening its geographic footprint and delivering tangible benefits to the women’s game and community rugby across England,” the stakeholders said in their announcement.

“It is being introduced in recognition that the previous system was not delivering financial sustainability, discouraging long-term investment and failing to generate meaningful benefits for the wider rugby ecosystem”

Rugby union has struggled financially in recent years. In the 2023-24 season, no Premiership club made a profit, according to the Leonard Curtis Rugby Finance Report.

The new system “provides greater certainty for clubs and investors, strengthens long-term planning, maintains competitive integrity and protects player welfare,” said the stakeholders.

Friday’s joint announcement was issued by the RFU, the Premiership, the Championship, Premiership Women’s Rugby and the Rugby Players Association.

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