Prem Rugby, English rugby union’s top-flight competition, has appointed experienced executive Tom Hill as its new chief revenue officer as it enters its next phase of commercial growth.
As the new CRO of Prem Rugby, Hill will lead the organization’s growing partnerships team, taking responsibility for new and existing commercial partners as the league looks to boost sponsorship revenue.
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Hill will work closely with Prem Rugby’s chief commercial and growth officer Rob Calder.
Simon Massie-Taylor, chief executive of Prem Rugby, said: “We are delighted to welcome Tom to PREM Rugby during such a crucial period of the league’s growth.
“Tom’s experience across some of the biggest properties in sport, combined with his deep understanding of rugby, makes him ideally placed to lead our Partnerships Team and accelerate our sponsorship ambitions.”
Hill joins with more than 20 years’ experience, most recently serving as the chief commercial officer of the Netcompany INEOS cycling team from 2024.
He also has extensive experience within rugby, having joined World Rugby as chief commercial officer in 2017, overseeing broadcast, commercial, and marketing strategies to grow the sport’s global audience and commercial opportunities.
Before that, he worked across soccer’s English Premier League and Champions League as global head of partnerships and operations at Manchester United.
Earlier in his career, he was commercial director at Saracens and was also General Manager of England Rugby Supporters’ Club at the RFU.
Hill said: “I’m delighted to be returning to rugby and joining the Prem at such an exciting time for the sport.
“There’s real ambition here to grow the game’s commercial footprint, and I can’t wait to get going with the whole Prem Rugby team to build on the league’s momentum ahead of our 30th season.”
The appointment comes two months after The Prem announced Charlotte Samuelson as its new chief operating officer and after RFU unveiled a major revamp of its club pyramid, separating the top-flight from the lower tiers.
This move effectively eliminates promotion and relegation between the Prem and the second-tier Champ Rugby, establishing the top-flight as a standalone 10-team division, to add as many as two expansion teams by the 2029-30 campaign.
The Prem Rugby Cup features those 10 teams, divided into two groups of five for round-robin play, with the top two teams in each group advancing to semi-finals and a final.
Often, it is used by top clubs to support the development of younger players, rather than exhibiting top stars, hence the lesser interest compared to the Prem proper.
The 2026/27 Gallagher PREM season kicks off on Friday, September 25 when reigning champions Northampton Saints take on Newcastle Red Bull’s.
Last week, Prem Rugby has confirmed that it will once again livestream fixtures from its Prem Rugby Cup knockout competition live for free on the video platform YouTube across the 2026-27 campaign.
This multi-game slate will begin in the first round of the Prem Rugby Cup (which begins this weekend) with Sal Sharks’ opening game against Bath Rugby on September 6.
That will be followed in round two by Exeter Chiefs’ game against Bristol Bears on September 12.
Each of those games will sit alongside another fixture in the same round selected for linear TV coverage by broadcast partner TNT Sports.
This is the second season that Prem Rugby has opted to air free coverage of early-round Prem Cup games, aiming to increase interest in a competition seen by many as secondary to domestic and continental concerns.
Prem Rugby says that its total YouTube views grew 438% year-on-year across the 2025-26 campaign.
