SCOTTISH professional rugby teams could find find themselves playing regular league fixtures in America or Canada if ambitious plans revealed over the weekend work out. That is one avenue being explored as Mark Dodson, the chief executive, warned there have to be changes if Scotland is to remain competitive in the 21st century sports market.

Despite a record breaking year in turnover, the Scottish Rugby Union know they need more income if they are to live with competition from billionaire-backed clubs In England and France. Dodson is prepared to see the current governing structure of the SRU torn up if it will bring in outside investors but accepts there are numerous hurdles.

The biggest problem for Dodson and his partners in the Guinness PRO12 is that they are operating in a small market – the combined populations of Scotland, both parts of Ireland, and Wales comes to less than 15 million – which rules out the megabucks television deals that underpin the games in France and England.

"What we have to do is break into new markets that matter," said Dodson. "Hence the kind of conversations that are going on around North America and other territories. North America is something we have to look at, not necessarily individually but across the PRO12. We are already working on certain key issues, we are researching that market to see how much interest there is.

"The idea is to have franchises there as part of a joint league – I don't think there is any profit in having the odd game have there, I don't think Americans will respond to that. They want regular competition that they understand and that they can get behind."

In his speech to the union's Annual General Meeting, Dodson spelled out exactly what is at stake unless the union can find new ways to bring in even more money. Despite reporting a £47.4 million turnover, and another year of being run at a small profit while debt is being brought down, that is not enough to stay healthy at any level.

"The fact is that 90 percent of our income comes from high performance rugby and this is the area of activity that underpins the grassroots game," he told club delegates. "Any strategy that does not protect high performance rugby will also fail the domestic grassroots game. We have to come up with a sustainable model that protects the professional and amateur games.

"It is increasingly clear that we need to restructure our organisation to attract external private investment. If we agree that outside investment is required – and required quickly – we may need to restructure our business to accommodate