Rugby Finances
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Exclusive: The $465m offer that could change NZ Rugby forever
NZ Rugby field revolutionary $465 million private investment offer from US tech giants.
New Zealand Rugby has received a $465 million offer from US technology investment giants Silver Lake for a 15 per cent share of commercial rights valued at $3.1 billion, the Herald can reveal. The deal, should it be signed off by New Zealand Rugby's provincial unions in the coming months, would be the biggest seachange since the game turned professional 25 years ago, and the largest transaction of this nature in NZ sports history. New Zealand Rugby and Silver Lake have been in talks for over nine months, with the Herald first revealing their shared interests last May. While Silver Lake's minority stake remains under negotiation and could be anywhere from 10 to 15 per cent, with terms yet to be finalised, the Herald understands they have tabled a $465 million offer for 15 per cent of a new, separate NZ Rugby entity. -
https://www.bbc.com/sport/wales/55768668
Welsh government unveils £17.7m rescue package for sport in Wales
The Welsh government has provided a £17.7m funding package to help spectator sports in Wales impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The funding of grants is allocated to the sports' national governing bodies.
Most of the money will go to Welsh rugby with a £13.5m grant, with Welsh football receiving £1.5m.
The rest is divided between horseracing (£1.2m), cricket (£1m), ice hockey (£200,000), rugby league (£200,000) and netball (£100,000).
With no immediate signs of crowds returning, the grants are to provide immediate financial support for spectator sports to help them through until September, with the figures proportionate to the losses suffered by each sport in Wales.
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@Rapido I didn't realise Wales had a government so checked to see if the had seceded from the United Kingdom. They haven't so I have learned something new today
Their Cabinet consists of 14 (all gender non specific but from photos it appears eight sit down to pee), twelve of whom represent Labour with the other two being Lib-Democrat and Independent. Netball obviously does not rate well with that mob.
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@Higgins said in Rugby Finances:
@Rapido I didn't realise Wales had a government so checked to see if the had seceded from the United Kingdom. They haven't so I have learned something new today
Their Cabinet consists of 14 (all gender non specific but from photos it appears eight sit down to pee), twelve of whom represent Labour with the other two being Lib-Democrat and Independent. Netball obviously does not rate well with that mob.
Yes, it's weird.
The UK government bailout covered English sports (RFU and the Premiership making out like bandits).
But sport for non-England comes under the devolution parliament for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
I wonder if it will all wash out even in the end, at the moment it is a bit too confusing, too devolved, for me to keep tabs.
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Sky-NEP deal: 4K ultra high definition rugby within two years
NEP promises upgrade to 4K ultra high definition sports coverage.
NEP promises upgrade to 4K ultra high definition sports coverage on Sky within two years. Photo / Photosport
No mention of frame rate.
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UK government with more public bailout money for Premiership.
Another £88m loan.
Premiership Rugby clubs to benefit from £88m loan from government to finish 2020/21 season
UK govt pledges £88million in loans for Premiership Rugby clubs to allow season to be concluded; Fans set to return in reduced capacity from May 17; Premiership Rugby chief Darren Childs: In our hour of need, this Government offered the financial help [we] so urgently needed
Premiership Rugby clubs will benefit of an £88million loan support from the Government in order to allow the 2020/21 season to be completed.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced on Saturday the latest tranche of funding from the winter phase of its Sport Survival Package aimed at helping sports, clubs and leagues hit by restrictions on fan attendance due to the coronavirus pandemic. It follows on from the £135m of government funding that rugby union received in November - with £44m going to the Rugby Football Union, £59m to Premiership Rugby clubs, £9m to clubs in the Championship and £23m to clubs below the Championship.
Earlier in March, the DCMS also pledged up to £5.5 million to support the launch of the men's Championship season and £40 million for grassroots clubs, making rugby union one of the main beneficiaries of government support.
Very rich mean must not be prevented from paying athletes more than they can afford or are worth and risk affecting the owner's egos or tax write offs.
It's disgusting.
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Financial woes force Wasps to halt recruitment
News, features and match reports from The Rugby Paper, the UK-based newspaper which specialises in rugby union at all levels ready for your viewing every Sunday of the year.
By Neil Fissler
Wasps have placed a freeze on recruitment despite Lee Blackett aiming to sign another two players before the new season kicks off at Gloucester next month.
The financially distressed outfit have already missed one deadline to repay the £35m retail bond they took to finance the purchase of their 35,000 seater ground in 2015. The bond, which was due to return 6.5 per cent interest, was suspended on the London Stock Exchange in May on the last day of trading before it was set to mature.
The club have had talks with HSBC about a refinancing deal defaulted on their repayment, and a new deadline of August 12 was set, but they are now going to miss that date as well.
Wasps will need to ask bondholders to agree to another extension to the redemption deadline, which would remove the default status and ease some of the pressure. Earlier this summer, Wasps applied to The West Midlands Combined Authority for £13m in public funds and hoped to have a couple more new signings in place.
Blackett has seen 11 players depart, including Malakai Fekitoa, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, Thomas Young, and Jimmy Gopperth. He has only been able to recruit seven new signings, which have included Vincent Koch from Saracens and former Ireland prop John Ryan from Munster.
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Worcester Warriors hit by winding up petition
Premiership club says it has suffered ‘unavoidable delays’ in receiving funding that will ‘secure its long-term future’
Rugby Union
Read all the latest Rugby Union news and results on Telegraph Sport. Results, interviews, video and expert analysis.
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Fiji rocked by 3 sackings as CEO takes 'annual leave' as internal audit launched
The Fiji Rugby Union is conducting an internal investigation with three staff members sacked while John O’Connor...
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So it looks like some clubs have already blown their share of the part sale of the Premiership that was supposed to secure their future about three and a bit years back.
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isn't this basically "trickle down economics"? the top level may make money the the foundations (the clubs) just aren't financially viable
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Different code, but relevant in that the owner also owns the Newcastle Falcons union team. Both play at Falcon's stadium. Not major news, just an indication of lower future spending accross owner's teams.
Newcastle Thunder returning part-time less than a year after going professional
The Championship club informed players of the decision earlier today.
Newcastle Thunder will revert to part-time status next year. Players were informed in a meeting on Wednesday morning that the club would no longer be operating on a full-time basis.
Thunder, who set out a plan to win Super League by 2030, went full-time ahead of the current campaign having consolidated in the Championship. But less than 12 months since making that move, the club has now decided to reverse its decision.
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Wasps Rugby club being chased by HMRC over unpaid tax bill
Premiership club pursued after not paying bill and comes after it missed £35m bond scheme repayment date
Wasps are being pursued by HM Revenue & Customs over an unpaid tax bill.
After Telegraph Sport revealed Worcester Warriors had been hit by a winding-up petition from HMRC, their Midlands rivals were said to be another Premiership club being chased by the taxman.
Their chief executive, Stephen Vaughan, did not respond to repeated requests for comment, while HMRC declined to comment.
Unlike Worcester, HMRC is not currently seeking the liquidation of Wasps, whose owner, Derek Richardson, was forced to deny last week that the club was to enter administration amid suggestions to that effect on social media.
No Premiership club has gone bankrupt since 1999 but the coronavirus pandemic left some on the brink, with a Government bailout worth tens of millions of pounds seemingly not enough to ensure their survival.
Fears over Wasps’s future were raised in May after they announced a delay in repaying those to have invested in a £35 million bond scheme that helped bankroll their 2014 purchase of a 250-year lease on the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Those concerns were compounded the following month when they requested £13 million in public money from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to help pay stadium costs.
The most recent set of accounts for Wasps Holdings, covering the year ending June 2021, showed it recorded a loss of £18.5 million over a two-year period and had net current liabilities of £54.7 million.
The bondholder debt was initially secured against the value of the stadium, which the accounts valued at £52.4 million.
Wasps are the only Premiership club whose Companies House filings do not include notification of a charge being issued against them for taking out a multi-million-pound loan under the Government’s Covid-19 Sports Winter Survival Package.
But Telegraph Sport has been told they did borrow money under the scheme and that, like other teams, their loan is a secured one.
At the weekend, Telegraph Sport revealed Wasps were facing possible legal action from Coventry City after their Coventry Building Society Arena tenants were forced to postpone a second home match this season over an “unsafe and unplayable” pitch.
On Wednesday, both clubs announced “extensive work” would take place on the playing surface this week and that a “six-figure investment” would be made into pitch improvements amid the postponement of a third Coventry home game this Saturday.
WMCA told Telegraph Sport Wasps’s request for public money was still under consideration, while Coventry City Council, which owns to freehold to the arena, said: “The city council, including through the chief executive and senior officers, has regular communication and dialogue with many businesses and this has been particularly important throughout the pandemic as the economic context has been incredibly challenging.
“Wasps have been one of these businesses.”
Worcester on Thursday night remained in dialogue with HMRC over its own unpaid bill, having previously said: “The club owners and board are fully committed to preserving top-flight professional rugby in Worcester and have been working on solutions to secure the financial future of Worcester Warriors and to pay outstanding tax owed to HMRC.
“A solution, which would secure the long-term future of the club, has been approved. Unfortunately, there have been unavoidable delays beyond the club’s control to the final tasks required to complete the funding.
“Having kept HMRC fully apprised of the situation, we are disappointed that they have taken the decision to issue a winding-up petition.”
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Premiership rugby club Worcester Warriors is set to enter administration, putting £14 million of taxpayer funds at risk.
The cash-strapped club, whose players include the British & Irish Lions winger Duhan van der Merwe, was last week issued by HM Revenue & Customs with a winding-up petition over an unpaid tax bill.
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The club responded to reports of its troubles last week by saying it was “working on solutions to secure the future and to pay outstanding tax”.
However, Worcester is now understood to have asked the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport for permission to go into administration. Such approval is required because of the taxpayer cash it received during Covid.
Worcester is considering a range of administration options, which could mean the
Rest of the article is behind paywall.
Surely that 14 million wasn't for 1 club? Have to pay rupert to find out ....
Worcester Warriors: After £14m Covid bailout, this Premiership rugby club is going under
Premiership rugby club Worcester Warriors is set to enter administration, putting £14 million of taxpayer funds at risk.The cash-strapped club, whose players include the British & Irish Lions winger Duhan van der Merwe, was last week issued by HM Revenue & Customs with a winding-up petition over an
Welsh Government - Wikipedia
