Rugby Finances
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Marquee player exemption to go?
Exclusive: Marquee player allowance outside of salary cap set to be scrapped
Premiership rugby are desperately trying to find ways to cut costs in response to the coronavirus pandemic
Premiership Rugby clubs are moving towards removing marquee player signings from the salary cap in a desperate bid to reduce costs.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Exeter Chiefs were the only club to be turning a profit with player wages accounting for the vast majority of outgoings. The effect of the lockdown has magnified the financial crisis many clubs were facing, leading to a range of cost-cutting measures from salary reductions to staff being placed on furlough.
In the longer term, there is a widespread acceptance that the Premiership’s longer term financial model is broken. The current salary cap is set at £7million with two marquee players whose salaries are excluded from the limit. The marquee player rule was brought in to allow clubs to bring the best foreign talent to the Premiership, however one chief executive told Telegraph Sport that its main result has been to drive wage inflation across the rest of the squad....
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Scotland update
(from The Times, mostly paywalled):
Hard on the heels of Scottish football’s appeal for government aid to survive the coronavirus crisis, the Scottish Rugby Union has signalled that it, too, could be looking for help as it faces what could become a massive hole in its finances over the coming months.
Mark Dodson, the union’s chief executive, suggested recently that the cancellation of this autumn’s three Murrayfield Tests would slash £12 million off the organisation’s income. If next year’s Six Nations matches are also affected then the shortfall would be closer to £30 million, or even more.
Dodson did not attend Tuesday’s Holyrood talks with Scottish government leaders and senior figures from other sports. His place was taken by Dominic McKay, the union’s chief operating officer, who stressed the value
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South Africa, not as bad as some due to recent re-structuring of contracting model?
From The Rep, (not a media I've outlet of heard of before):
Rugby feels the pinch of no play in the back pocket - The Rep
With the inactivity caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the financial implications and economic meltdown, rugby, like most other sports, is feeling the pinch. It is widely reported that the Australia Rugby Union has had to cut the contracted players' salaries by 60%. Australia Rugby is on the brink...
The loss of Super Rugby matches has obviously had an adverse reaction on the revenue, as well as match-day takings. Some of South Africa’s main rivals in New Zealand and England, have announced pay cuts for their players.
South Africa’s blushes have been saved by changing their Springbok contracting model last year. In June 2019 it was announced that SA Rugby would no longer directly contract its players and that all unions and franchises would have a cap on the number of professional players they could contract. It was part of a cost-cutting measure that is bearing fruit in these times of economic uncertainty.
What has also assisted SA Rugby as that all the Springboks contracted to overseas clubs like Handre Pollard, Willie Le Roux, Malcolm Marx, Eben Etzebeth, Cheslin Kolbe and many have salaries paid by their clubs, and that helps to alleviate the financial burden on SA Rugby.
For now, even the franchises are in a stable financial situation. The Bulls have the major financial backing of billionaires Johan Rupert and Patrice Motsepe. The Sharks and the Lions are stable, with huge financial partners. Even the Stormers, with their much-publicised financial struggles in recent times, are in a stable position.
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The real cost of the Israel Folau saga has been revealed by leaked Rugby Australia financial figures for 2019.
The figures, which were obtained by News Corp but were still to be signed off by auditors, show a A$4 million rise in "player costs and RUPA (Rugby Union Players Association)" and a A$3.8 million increase in "corporate costs".
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Folau settlement – estimated to be around $4 million – is included in the player costs, with half paid by NSW Rugby. Cost of the payout is also included in the $20 million Rugby Australia owes to creditors.
The other reasons for the spike in player costs include payments for the first year of Wallabies captain Michael Hooper's contract and a deal to bring halfback Nic White back to Australia in the middle of 2020 after his stint in England.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12331395
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Exclusive: All Blacks turn their backs on autumn internationals
The All Blacks are set to abandon their three-match British tour this autumn, a decision which will cost England, Wales and Scotland more than £20m.
Their move towards cancelling Tests scheduled for Cardiff, Twickenham and Murrayfield on successive Saturdays in November is based on advice from the New Zealand government. It follows a warning from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern that their borders will ‘remain closed to the rest of the world for a long time’.
The Rugby Paper understands that the New Zealand Rugby Board are preparing to sacrifice their UK fixtures rather than risk jeopardising the country’s success in virtually eliminating the Covid-19 pandemic from their shores. It will tear yet another gaping hole in the sport’s dissolving finances.
The news comes hot on the heels of RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney’s claim that the prolonged effect of lockdown threatens to cost the world’s richest Union £107m within the next 12 months. His Welsh counterpart, Martyn Phillips, estimates Wales stand to lose around £50m.
England-New Zealand is being promoted at Twickenham as ‘one of the most anticipated matches in rugby’, all the more so since England smashed the All Blacks’ World Cup monopoly in Yokohama. In addition to £10m plus guaranteed in ticket sales of 82,000, the RFU stand to lose another fortune from other commercial spin-offs.
The Official Twickenham Hospitality website shows that tables of ten for the match have been sold out, at £14,490 per table. Various agencies are advertising single tickets at up to £799.
Instead of touring, New Zealand plan to launch a series of matches involving their Super Rugnby franchises followed by a four-Test series against Australia, all behind closed doors. The respective governments took a major step last week towards making it possible by creating a trans- Ta$man ‘bubble’, allowing free movement without any quarantine requirements.
Can't say I'm looking forward to a 4 match series, behind closed doors.
Gotta do what they gotta do, I suppose. -
No surprise to me. If the NH nations aren't coming south in July (or later in the year) there is no reason to go north in November.
Not enthused about 4 tests against Aust either. I assume that would be 2 at home and 2 away. No need to play the home games at Eden Park though.
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@Bovidae said in Rugby Finances:
Not enthused about 4 tests against Aust either. I assume that would be 2 at home and 2 away. No need to play the home games at Eden Park though.
If behind closed doors, it'll be whereever is cheapest to open that has camera facilities I expect. Could well be Westpac (or even Dunedin)
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@nzzp said in Rugby Finances:
@Bovidae said in Rugby Finances:
Not enthused about 4 tests against Aust either. I assume that would be 2 at home and 2 away. No need to play the home games at Eden Park though.
If behind closed doors, it'll be whereever is cheapest to open that has camera facilities I expect. Could well be Westpac (or even Dunedin)
I was thinking Wellington. Sky Stadium is free advertising.
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@Rapido said in Rugby Finances:
Exclusive: All Blacks turn their backs on autumn internationals
The All Blacks are set to abandon their three-match British tour this autumn, a decision which will cost England, Wales and Scotland more than £20m.
Their move towards cancelling Tests scheduled for Cardiff, Twickenham and Murrayfield on successive Saturdays in November is based on advice from the New Zealand government. It follows a warning from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern that their borders will ‘remain closed to the rest of the world for a long time’.
The Rugby Paper understands that the New Zealand Rugby Board are preparing to sacrifice their UK fixtures rather than risk jeopardising the country’s success in virtually eliminating the Covid-19 pandemic from their shores. It will tear yet another gaping hole in the sport’s dissolving finances.
The news comes hot on the heels of RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney’s claim that the prolonged effect of lockdown threatens to cost the world’s richest Union £107m within the next 12 months. His Welsh counterpart, Martyn Phillips, estimates Wales stand to lose around £50m.
England-New Zealand is being promoted at Twickenham as ‘one of the most anticipated matches in rugby’, all the more so since England smashed the All Blacks’ World Cup monopoly in Yokohama. In addition to £10m plus guaranteed in ticket sales of 82,000, the RFU stand to lose another fortune from other commercial spin-offs.
The Official Twickenham Hospitality website shows that tables of ten for the match have been sold out, at £14,490 per table. Various agencies are advertising single tickets at up to £799.
Instead of touring, New Zealand plan to launch a series of matches involving their Super Rugnby franchises followed by a four-Test series against Australia, all behind closed doors. The respective governments took a major step last week towards making it possible by creating a trans- Ta$man ‘bubble’, allowing free movement without any quarantine requirements.
Can't say I'm looking forward to a 4 match series, behind closed doors.
Gotta do what they gotta do, I suppose.What choice do they have, though?
I'm actually fairly optimistic that this might be a tight and captivating series. Both teams new-look, with new coaches. One team looking quite a bit more vulnerable than it has in a very long time, the other being a massive unknown. Additionally, with the lack of international sport being played this year, it has the potential to be quite gripping.
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Four tests? Make them play midweek matches too. Pretend it's an old fashioned tour.
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'The situation is worrying' - France's wealthiest rugby side cut budget by 20%
The financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has hit Stade Francais.
THE TOP 14′s wealthiest side Stade Francais is cutting its budget by up to 20% due to the “worrying” coronavirus pandemic, the club’s general manager Thomas Lombard said on Wednesday.
The Parisian outfit, who won the last of their 14 league titles in 2015, had an expenditure of €40 million last season.
Lombard said they had lost ticket sales and sponsorship income after the campaign was declared over and has worries about restarting the new season in empty stadiums.
“The situation is worrying. We were unable to play all of our home games. The club, like the rest of the Top 14 has been extremely impacted,” Lombard told AFP.
“The worst thing would be to play behind closed doors. Because it cuts pretty much the whole of our income. We’ll have television rights money but it doesn’t play that big of a role in our budget,” he added.
The side, who were bottom of the table when the term was declared over in April, are backed by billionaire Hans-Peter Wild but Lombard said they need to depend less on the Swiss businessman, who made his fortune from soft drinks.
“From the moment when all the efforts come from the same person it can limit things. He’s already signed a number of cheques,” Lombard said.
Fellow French sides in Toulon and Castres have announced salary cuts for their players.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-52694459
Bath
ownerJames Dyson is now the UKs richest man.Edit. Doh, he's sponsor, not owner.
4 Premiership owners are in the Sunday Times rich list:
https://www.ruck.co.uk/richest-gallagher-premiership-owners-revealed-how-bath-bristol-bears-and-saracens-rank/3/ -
@Rapido said in Rugby Finances:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-52694459
Bath owner James Dyson is now the UKs richest man.
And he can't afford the upkeep of the Premiership's worst pitch.
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@Wurzel said in Rugby Finances:
@Rapido said in Rugby Finances:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-52694459
Bath owner James Dyson is now the UKs richest man.
And he can't afford the upkeep of the Premiership's worst pitch.
That's why he's so rich
