The Prem: Former Hundred champion Rob Calder on rugby's top-flight relaunch

The Premiership may be losing seven letters next season, but Rob Calder hopes it will gain much more.

Calder, the top flight's chief growth officer, is the man snipping the competition's name to simply 'the Prem' for next season.

The change comes with a new logo – a shock of orange to reflect the intensity of the action – and fresh branding promoting the physicality, athleticism, collisions and confrontations on the pitch.

"There was definitely an issue with the Premiership brand in that it felt quite corporate and establishment," says Calder.

"It didn't feel like an entertainment product and that's what we're trying to address now with this new identity.

"This league is not broken, it is actually flourishing - we just need to reframe ourselves a little bit to make sure we can reach those wide audiences and grow."

In repositioning rugby, Calder hasn't looked outside the box, but into the octagon.

"If you look at sports that are growing in this country, it's basketball, it's NFL, it's mixed martial arts and there's a singularity to a lot of those brands," he adds.

"Think about UFC. There's a real sort of punchiness. There's a dynamism and a lean forward and we really like that. We thought we could do it our own way though."

The reaction when the new branding was unveiled before Saturday's final was mixed. It often is with these things.

But that is perhaps the point - the existing audience is not the target. Calder wants to expand the league's appeal and convert the indifferent.

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