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As an interesting stat, growing attendances to make a big difference could be difficult.
Stadiums were 95% full over Christmas / New Year with an average attendance of approx. 13,000 (from another source), and most weeks are well below that figure.
That puts Rugby on a similar level with League One Football for attendance, and way below the Championship with an average of approx. 20,000

Thanks Tiggs.
A grim but fair summary I fear.

Gate money not enough to keep clubs afloat.
Income dependent on sponsorship, TV rights, and hand outs from the international sphere. Only so much to round.

Long term there is also the existential threat from the measures that will need to be taken to address Head injuries. I would guess that this already impacting on youth rugby and could quickly reach point where parents divert children to other sports.

What staggers me , is that Rugby Union has within its ranks highly intelligent and successful business people. Yet it hasn`t developed a collective strategic vision and plan which grows the game, and both gets far more exposure , popularity and becomes financial sustainable .The talent is available , I hope the collective strategic vision is there , what seems to be missing is an executive body/organisation to be able to drive that objective and implement the plan.In fact in my humble opinion their is a perverse self interest logic afoot which is achieving the exact opposite for the game.

Beyond a certain point of television rights, it dwarfs gate receipts and they become a much smaller (albeit still important) component of revenue. The issue is how does the game (and not just in England) get to that point? As far as England specifically is concerned, what else can PRL and the RFU do that they aren't already? Can the government help at all, like in Ireland with the sweetheart deal for tax, or cheap loans for stadium renovation/expansion?

And straight after my post, this from Tigers. Pay particular attention to the bold underlined sentence !!!

After a few questions from Season Ticket Holders, I would like to explain why the club has not included the Round of 16 Heineken Champions Cup game against Edinburgh Rugby at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in your season ticket.

Knockout stages of the Heineken Champions Cup and Premiership Rugby Cup, as well as any Gallagher Premiership play-offs, have never been included in the season ticket. They are additional games that we, sadly, cannot always guarantee we will be in! We will always give you the opportunity to buy YOUR seat first and offer you the best prices.

Last season, however, we replaced the cancelled Bordeaux game with the Round of 16 match against ASM Clermont Auvergne. While this was a huge financial hit for the club we were more easily able to do so as ALL the revenue for that home match came to the club.

This season, as there is only one leg in the Round of 16, the visitors - Edinburgh - are entitled to a share of the revenues from the match as per the tournament regulations and clubs are obliged to maximise revenues for the benefit of both clubs.

We are very aware that our Worcester Warriors and Wasps matches in the Gallagher Premiership were unable to take place through no fault of Tigers or our season ticket holders and although we were able to replace one match with a game against an Italian XV we still ‘owe you one’ and fully intend to give you an additional game at Mattioli Woods Welford Road before the end of the season.

It is obvious that all rugby clubs are under financial pressure and losing these league games have left big holes in our revenues. Tigers season ticket prices and match ticket prices are amongst the best in the Premiership and we don’t want to take your support for granted. However, on this occasion, we need to lean on you and we may need to again as we navigate some troubled rugby waters and work towards a sustainable future.

While you may still disagree with our position, I hope that this at least explains our thought process
.

"The fact that for many clubs if they didn't pay any of their players a salary, they would still be loss making,"

Which clubs are in that situation?

Good article Steve, and IMVHO no it cannot survive long term in its current format.
The proposed rise in the Salary Cap is ridiculous.
There have been muttering on the Bristol Site about their Sugar Daddy’s long term involvement in the club!

Drop the ground prerequisites, if they sell out most weeks they’ll soon expand/improve look at Bath’s ground and Adams Park.
Sort the season out with fewer prem games (10 sides) and fewer international games and no overlapping. The quality will, in my opinion improve and with it, the attractiveness to ticket buyers and tv.
Cut the cap further if it is not possible to be sustainable within it
Remove marquee players
Find a funding formula that reflects rugby revenue rather than tax write offs from rich people

My prediction.

Within a decade, we will either have:

A. Regional teams run by the rfu - 3 or maybe 4 - with clubs being either semi-pro or amateur again.

OR

B. A UK wide pro league with maybe 6 English teams maximum.

Only way to stop this is to get someone good to come in and properly run PRL. Tell all the owners to go elsewhere (down the pub?) to have their self-interest squabbles whilst someone creates a situation in which their play things survive and maybe even flurish!

Semi pro or amateur rugby will never exist at Welford Road as the stadium costs are now too great for that.
The only advantage is that any regional team would almost certainly be based at WR, if you could call that an advantage.

A 10 team league does not offer sufficient games, Alphonse - no matter the quality - to make a Season Ticket attractive.

You cannot get bigger by getting smaller.

...

How does the French model work and is it sustainable? Genuine question.

I think their TV deal is much bigger (3 times?) but not sure. If so why?

Quote:

Knighton Tiger (formerly Rushden T and GM Tiger)
How does the French model work and is it sustainable? Genuine question.
I think their TV deal is much bigger (3 times?) but not sure. If so why?

TV deal is bigger plus the grounds are owned by the French City/Towns councils.

Quote:

Knighton Tiger (formerly Rushden T and GM Tiger)
How does the French model work and is it sustainable? Genuine question.
I think their TV deal is much bigger (3 times?) but not sure. If so why?

TV deal bigger for better quality and more games? And a higher profile sport with more interest in clubs.

Teams don't have big stadium costs as the large stadia are municipally owned.

Teams get support/sponsorship from local authorities. Bit like Leicester City supporting us financially!

Things that I'm sure have been said in the past.

Does being geographically bigger give french teams more supporter base separation?

I imagine the 2 big factors are
1) France does not have the same massive football structure as England. Its still sizable and the top clubs are massive but the depth is not comparable, so almost every town in England has a club equal to or bigger than our Rugby clubs and most Cities have 2/3/4 or even more that are at a scale comparable with the English Rugby team support.
2) Public funding for your stadium takes a big cost out.

The TV deal is more of a symptom that a cause... but it certainly helps sustain the structure.

The way forward is to widen the structure, not reduce it. You need to expose as many people to the game as possible. There needs to be more outreach - Local clubs going into schools rather than waiting for players to turn up at their doors. It shouldn't matter if a fan is going to a local club, a championship ground, the prem or even Twickenham... You need to develop a new generation of young people who see Rugby as a sport for them, something they can afford and something thats not only for the rich or the posh. Its a long and complicated road but you dont get there by building a small league for rich owners and hoping to be the best of whats left - Pushing clubs to go bust by having the biggest budget.

It needs leadership at the RFU, PRL and lower and it needs vision and unfortunately money.

Good post.

...

European super league anyone??

Quote:

Duckonstilts
It needs leadership at the RFU, PRL and lower and it needs vision and unfortunately money.

Hell of a wish list that. As if! Never seen anything like that before. Blow a lot of candles out first time on that birthday cake to give you hope that such big dreams will come true?



[I agree btw.]

One factor which may play in from later this year is the Rugby World Cup in France , if England do well , that could be used as a building block for the growing of the game in both popularity and financial terms.

Quote:

daktari
One factor which may play in from later this year is the Rugby World Cup in France , if England do well , that could be used as a building block for the growing of the game in both popularity and financial terms.

Well post 2003 worked well - NOT!

Ah but the Ah F You were in charge of that!

Oh...hell...

...

Quote:

Rich W
Ah but the Ah F You were in charge of that!
Oh...hell...

Well one would assume that CVC would want to both maximise their investment so would have a bigger say in the future opportunities/.

Greetings from Worcester.

The basic financial situation here was no different from many Premiership clubs: expenditure exceeded income.

In the early years of the Premiership we were fortunate to have benefactors who put their own money into the club with no hope or expectation of any return and who "balanced the books".

Latterly, the most recent owners relied on borrowed monies, a situation which could not continue indefinitely and the inevitable happened. That they have been accused of mismanaging the club obscures the reality. Annual losses of give or take £5m had to be covered somehow; they did not have the ability or the means to do this.

The good which has come out of all of this is, and the Wasps situation, is that serious questions are now being asked about where professional rugby goes from here. And the excellent points made above add to that debate.

I doubt that we will see you back at Sixways - at least for a considerable time. If there is to be a future for us it will be in the Championship. Whichever of the bidding consortia emerges as the new owners is unlikely to have the financial clout necessary to get into and survive in the Premiership as currently structured.

Meanwhile some of us will be off to Bath shortly to support "our" homegrown players now plying their trade down there. Who knows we may find our way to your place next season to keep any eye on "our" players you have recently signed. Please take care of them!

The club are discussing ST increases required for next season, and the possibility of a 20% increase is one being discussed, if what I have heard is true.
Tigers needed the £1m for SB and KS more than we all know.
And other clubs are in even more trouble than us.
This is going to be a tough 12 months for all Prem Rugby clubs.

Quote:

Tiggs
The club are discussing ST increases required for next season, and the possibility of a 20% increase is one being discussed, if what I have heard is true.
Tigers needed the £1m for SB and KS more than we all know.
And other clubs are in even more trouble than us.
This is going to be a tough 12 months for all Prem Rugby clubs.

But PRL/clubs still want to increase the Salary Cap!!

A 20% increase will be the final straw for a lot of STHs.

Quote:

tigersimon

Quote:

Tiggs
The club are discussing ST increases required for next season, and the possibility of a 20% increase is one being discussed, if what I have heard is true.
Tigers needed the £1m for SB and KS more than we all know.
And other clubs are in even more trouble than us.
This is going to be a tough 12 months for all Prem Rugby clubs.

But PRL/clubs still want to increase the Salary Cap!!

A 20% increase will be the final straw for a lot of STHs.

Me probably for one.

As more matches are missed by one or other of us due to unavoidable clashes with other stuff (and this is likely to get worse next season) you do ask yourself whether the £50 leaving your account each month is worth it? Until I looked the other day, wasn't actually 100% certain what my ST was costing me (Direct Debit habit at its worst!!!) as it's just something we've had for the last twenty odd years. But a general creep of loads of small things (see previous thread) has made me question my Tigers' habit.

Never say never but I'm on the cusp.

It's not my job to "save" such a poorly run and failing sport. The owners should dig deeper to keep their vanity ego hobbies going or take a long hard look at everything and sort themselves out.

Quote:

tigersimon

Quote:

Tiggs
The club are discussing ST increases required for next season, and the possibility of a 20% increase is one being discussed, if what I have heard is true.
Tigers needed the £1m for SB and KS more than we all know.
And other clubs are in even more trouble than us.
This is going to be a tough 12 months for all Prem Rugby clubs.

But PRL/clubs still want to increase the Salary Cap!!

A 20% increase will be the final straw for a lot of STHs.

... and AGAIN:

Reduce the salary cap, progressively [to allow for existing contracts] and significantly

Abolish marquee contracts

Outlaw conflicts twixt Plumpyship and international fixtures [do not compensate with midweek fixtures] {this should allow for smaller squads}

Only enter the Afropean f*Kup if it is financially viable

Ensure sufficient "other" fixtures for developing players .. this is the future of recruitment

The referee is the final arbitrary ------------------ {The persons and events mentioned in this post are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events is purely co-incidental}

Do remember that ST prices have remained static for several years now though.

Quote:

Yorkie
TV deal bigger for better quality and more games? And a higher profile sport with more interest in clubs.
Teams don't have big stadium costs as the large stadia are municipally owned.

Teams get support/sponsorship from local authorities. Bit like Leicester City supporting us financially!

Things that I'm sure have been said in the past.

Does being geographically bigger give french teams more supporter base separation?

Imagine British rugby if the six pro Scottish/Welsh franchises were clubs in the same structure, plus another half dozen top union sides in the M62 corridor instead of the big League teams, and that is closer to the French starting point. Much bigger TV deal & much stronger 2nd tier, so promotion/relegation works as it should.

Quote:

MarchingIn

Quote:

Yorkie
TV deal bigger for better quality and more games? And a higher profile sport with more interest in clubs.
Teams don't have big stadium costs as the large stadia are municipally owned.

Teams get support/sponsorship from local authorities. Bit like Leicester City supporting us financially!

Things that I'm sure have been said in the past.

Does being geographically bigger give french teams more supporter base separation?

Imagine British rugby if the six pro Scottish/Welsh franchises were clubs in the same structure, plus another half dozen top union sides in the M62 corridor instead of the big League teams, and that is closer to the French starting point. Much bigger TV deal & much stronger 2nd tier, so promotion/relegation works as it should.

Heresy , where would the IRFU find/have the whipping boys to hone their International team

I believe Orange Juice said it best - rip it up and start again.

Quote:

Tiggs
Do remember that ST prices have remained static for several years now though.

Not sure ours have tbh. Would need to look back but haven't got the energy!

No of games has reduced?

I am fairly confident that is hasn't increased since before Covid, and I think at least a year before that, but I could be wrong.

My d/d hasn't changed since 2018, and it actually was less that year than the year before, I am not sure why it reduced, maybe less games since then ?

The terrace didn't increase from £240 from around 2015 to this current season when it went to £250. I cannot find the exact pricing page but based on my old blog where I did an article on the prices I think they might have actually been CUT from that time.

Link to the old blog, there is a table at the bottom with a grid of prices from all the clubs that season

OK. So I looked.

In 2016 and 17, DD was £46.33/month
In 2018 DD was £47.08
In 2019 and 2020 DD was £45.85
This year is £47.50

So went up for this season.

Just you, not us.
Maybe they do that for the top seats, and not us in the cheap seats !

£1.17 increase over that period and via a reduction, not too heinous