The Premiership is no longer financially viable ? so how does rugby save itself?
For the game to survive and grow, now is the time for everyone to consider the impact of their financial demands on others
GAVIN MAIRS
CHIEF RUGBY UNION CORRESPONDENT
6 April 2023 ? 8:00am
Gavin Mairs
Maro Itoje - The Premiership is no longer financially viable ? so how does rugby save itself?
It was during the first months of the pandemic that we first heard about the opportunity for rugby to ?reset? as the sporting world went into lockdown.
Back then, the issues that needed to be solved seemed much more straightforward: They were structural, largely around improving the international fixture schedule, reducing the overlap with the professional club game and improving player welfare.
Now, three years on and any sense of opportunity has been replaced by what seems an almost existential crisis. The lockdown may have given the administrators more thinking time, but it came at a shocking price, exposing the fragility of the game?s finances, particularly for England?s clubs.
The Premiership clubs were already overly reliant on the generosity of their benefactor owners, who, year after year seemed happy to dig deep into their pockets to cover substantial deficits (an average of ?4 million a year) in the pursuit of glory on the pitch.
Three years on and many clubs are burdened with two more creditors. The pre-pandemic decision to accept the ?200 million investment from CVC for a 27 per cent stake in the commercial revenues in 2019 was in part based on the forecast that the private equity company?s entrance into the sport would grow the financial pie to offset that loss.
But, a bit like the UK economy, commercial growth has been elusive, while costs have continued to rise. CVC?s magic touch that resulted in remarkable growth in the value of Formula One has not been apparent or transparent, given their refusal to outline or explain their plans. What is their master plan?
There was no surprise either when some supporters found it unedifying to see their clubs accept public money in the form of the loans from the Government?s sports survival package, despite an investment from a private equity firm with a multi-million pound turnover.
Those loans, while proving a life-saver at the time for some clubs, now have to be paid back, and many clubs are wondering how they will manage to do so in a season in which we have already seen Wasps and Worcester go under, and London Irish running out of time to secure a takeover from an American consortium.
Against the backdrop of this financial turbulence, the clubs and the Rugby Football Union are now facing pressure from some leading players to either raise the salary cap or scrap the restriction on overseas-based players playing for England.
Maro Itoje on Wednesday urged Premiership Rugby to ?make it more attractive? for clubs to keep hold of their England players.
I have argued recently that both organisations should hold their nerve. Now is not the time to allow England players to chase the foreign coin. After three seasons in which the England team has won just two games in the Six Nations, the last thing Steve Borthwick needs is seeing the likes of Itoje being flogged every weekend in the French Top 14.
David Nucifora, Ireland?s performance director, recently told me that the best thing that happened for their national squad?s development was the experience of Johnny Sexton at Racing 92. The Ireland captain came back battered, bruised and out of form. Back in the nurturing environment of Leinster, he is on course, like Rory Best before him in Japan in 2019, to captain the Ireland side in the World Cup in France at the ripe old age of 37.
If Itoje heads to France, one wonders if he will still be playing Test rugby at 37.
If Premiership Rugby is guilty of anything on this front, it is in the failure of educating the players about the benefits of remaining in England, and also presenting the leading players with a sense of the financial reality that is facing professional rugby union.
With the game becoming ever more powerful and the narrative ongoing about the potential health risks from head injuries, it is understandable that the leading players want greater rewards, when they see those in rival sports such as football receive life-changing salaries, without the intense physicality of the game.
Yet, for the game to survive and then grow, now is the time for everyone involved to consider the impact of their financial demands on others. England players are already well compensated, so too are the game?s administrators at a time when we are being told there is no money. It is time for reality to bite.
It is the journeyman professional, who shares the injury risk but without the financial reward, who should be attracting the spotlight, while the onus is now on the administrators (including CVC) to come up with a master plan to create a vibrant and sustainable Premiership competition that also serves the national side. If that means reducing the league to 10 clubs, then so be it.
Forget the reset button, we have now reached the point of needing to pull out the plug and push it back in again. We can all only hope it works.
Topic: Premiership No Longer Viable? (Read 1901 times)
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