Exeter chief executive Tony Rowe has criticised plans for Prem Rugby’s semi-finals to be staged at neutral venues.

Currently sides finishing first and second in the table host the sides who are third and fourth.

But from the 2029-30 season league bosses hope to play both semi-finals on consecutive days in one city, similar to the European finals weekend.

“I don’t know why they’ve done what they’ve done, because I can’t see people going to Liverpool or Brighton for a semi-final,” Rowe said.

“I don’t think the game is at that stage – you can’t get a ticket for a Premier League football game, but you can still buy loads and loads of tickets for a Premiership Rugby game.”

Exeter have played in seven semi-finals, hosting six of them.

They beat Bath in their first-ever away semi-final last month in a dramatic encounter at The Rec, becoming the first third-placed team to reach the final at Twickenham.

Those behind the plans hope that matches at larger capacity venues can grow the games both commercially and in terms of popularity.

But it is estimated clubs currently make between £600,000-£750,000 when hosting a play-off at their home ground, while there are also concerns the lack of home advantage might disincentivise clubs towards end of the season if there is no tangible benefit for finishing in the top two.

“I’ll be really interested because we will be at that semi-final, wherever it is, but I’ll be really interested to see whether the supporters turn out – I don’t think they will,” added Rowe, who has seen his club taken over by American investors this week.

“The way the whole thing is structured is that financially you want to be in first or second place in the Premiership because you get the home semi – well they’ve taken that away and it’s still not clear to me how much financial reward clubs are going to get for finishing there.”