London Irish now 😔

SmallTown

SmallTown

Well-known member
Another club suspended from the premiership. Rugby has a massive cash problem.

Not sure what the answer is. RFU owned stadia?
 
Muttley said:
Union code probably doesn't have enough interest in this country to be a fully professional league/sport.
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Possibly. But they manage in France where it is also a minority sport. And Australia.

I think there has been some mismanagement of finances too. Can’t believe that in the year before Covid year only Exeter made a profit. And now not even they do.

It’s sad because the two midlands clubs and the other two London clubs get big crowds and COULD be sustainable. The rest? Not sure.

Interesting that our Quins season tickets have gone up a lot this year. Some people are kicking off but it’s pretty much a choice between paying that, or not having a premiership club at all
 
I believe this is a case of Rugby not living within its means, overspend and the bubble will burst eventually as we’ve seen with championship football clubs and below.
 
Sexpom said:
I believe this is a case of Rugby not living within its means, overspend and the bubble will burst eventually as we’ve seen with championship football clubs and below.
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I’m not sure this is true either, we have controls in place around salary caps to try and keep them sustainable. But how do you balance that against being successful in Europe? I don’t know the answer to this but why does French rugby have so much money?
 
France now has three professional leagues and the promotion and relegation model is driving interest, while in England there is one professional division which is now ring-fenced – and the second tier is now chronically under-funded and under-valued. The Gallic clubs’ new TV deal with Canal+ is worth three times what BT Sport are paying for Premiership rights. There are one or teo clubs owned by billionaires. All the games in the top two divisions are televised. They can therefore attract more sponsors as a result.
 
SmallTown said:
but why does French rugby have so much money
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The majority of French clubs are very embedded in the local communities, and are often sponsored (officially and unofficially) by local businesses - Michelin with Clermont being the stand out example. You've also got the mega-money owners at the likes of Racing, Montpellier, Toulon etc. who can pump in as much money as they want

The FFF are now also very much aligned with the clubs and they work together, though previously the clubs held all the power and worked for their own benefit.

Oh, and from your previous post, Rugby, especially in the South West, is very much NOT a minority sport
 
SmallTown said:
I’m not sure this is true either, we have controls in place around salary caps to try and keep them sustainable. But how do you balance that against being successful in Europe? I don’t know the answer to this but why does French rugby have so much money?
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I’m not a Rugby man as such but aren’t the financial rules different in France in terms of owners putting money in?
 
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