The Premiership's plans for an 'international round' to be added to their season could generate a staggering £100 million for the ten global games.

The decision is also expected to please sponsors of the clubs and the league, increasing numbers of whom are multinational companies desperate to reach a global audience.

Introducing the fixtures in the 2010-11 season will mean that the overseas games will be held at a time when the next set of television rights is up for negotiation. At present, Sky and Setanta pay an average of £4.1 million a game to show 138 fixtures a season - and there is little doubt that the extra games will be televised.

The Times says the increasing globalisation of a league in which players from many nationalities are represented also plays into sponsors' hands. Barclays, which pays nearly £22 million a season to sponsor the top flight, said yesterday that it "welcomed the decision" because it met the bank's desire to "increase our global reach as a brand".