THE LATEST REPORTS about Worcester Warriors suggest that the beleaguered Premiership club may have found buyers to rescue them from the brink.
It remains to be seen exactly what happens at the debt-ridden English outfit, but their recent saga of uncertainty points to a wider issue in professional rugby: the wobbly financial foundations on which the sport is built.
It’s an issue that came into focus on this week’s edition of The42 Rugby Weekly Extra - a podcast available to members of The42 - as two men who have been involved in the professional game shared their worries.
After a playing career that took in time with Connacht, Sale Sharks, and Leinster, Bernard Jackman was the head coach of French side Grenoble and Welsh region the Dragons.
Sydney-based Eoin Toolan brings a perspective from the other side of the world, having moved from his role as a performance analyst with Ireland to work with the Melbourne Rebels in Australia and the Kintetsu Liners in Japan.
Jackman and Toolan have both followed the Worcester story with concern and believe it is indicative of a wider issue in the game.
“It’s very worrying,” said Jackman on The42 Rugby Weekly Extra.
“I have been involved with five professional clubs and four of them have been in an unstable position financially. Connacht aren’t now, they’re safe, but when I was there, the knife was out for them.
“Dragons are safe-ish at the moment but there’s a big rumour in Welsh rugby that they’re going to go to three regions and the Dragons would probably be the most vulnerable. Grenoble are now in Pro D2 and had to sell all their players.
“I’ve got friends in Worcester. Players have been paid late but staff only got 65% and there’s no guarantee that they will get paid next month. The Premiership has been around a long time, they get good crowds, they’ve reduced the salary cap, and yet it’s still not paying its way.
“The CVC money (more than £200 million invested into the Premiership in 2018) has been spent or gone into paying debt but word is that the total money owed by the Premiership clubs is over £500 million. So it is worrying.
“There are less players contracted now than there were but still very few clubs are going to wash their face. We’re living on borrowed time because up until now, clubs have been able to find a benefactor.
“The difference in France is that you clean the slate at the end of each year. So if you project that you’re going to turn over €17 million and you only turn over €16 million, you need to find that €1 million before you get your license for the following year. So someone takes a hit for that €1 million but it’s a personal debt rather than a club debt.
“That’s what happened in Grenoble – we couldn’t find anyone to write that cheque and had to ask the players to take a pay cut. Some refused and we sold all our players.
“I don’t see it getting any better. I think it’s getting worse and the game has been professional a long time now. You would think that it would be in a healthier state financially.
“I’m a fan and I want to talk about the product – the players, the coaches, the tactics – but we need to be cognisant of the fact that it’s basically built on a foundation of sand at the moment.”
Toolan believes that getting a genuine global calendar that finally brings the Northern and Southern Hemispheres together is crucial for boosting the game’s coffers.
He sees the progress other professional sports are making in Australia and worries that rugby union is being left in their wake.
“The alignment of the global seasons and injecting a freshness to the outlook of competitions is important,” said Toolan.
The inclusion of the South African teams in the URC has definitely enhanced the competition but is it going to bring in the big money?
“Realistically, no. The Heineken Cup is a proven template that generates massive interest from a fan perspective and has done a brilliant job from a broadcasting perspective. That’s a model that generates interest levels and ultimately, it’s the TV money that funds the game.
“In this neck of the woods, the AFL just signed a $4.5 billion TV deal over five years. That’s for a domestic game. That clearly sustains the game. It builds all your player pathways, your talent ID, everything funnels down from that broadcast investment.
“They’ve got a brilliant model, as does the NRL here. Rugby union is falling massively behind in the Southern Hemisphere. I know New Zealand have got the Silver Lake deal which has injected money into the game but the Super Rugby model here is broken.
“From a TV perspective, interest levels are low. From a fan engagement perspective, you’re only guaranteed seven home games a year. How do you build any business when you only have seven opportunities a year to bring people into your stadium for games?
“The global calendar and having a refocus in how we market the game and build exciting content from a TV perspective is really important if it’s going to sustain itself.”
To get access to The42 Rugby Weekly Extra, which comes out every Monday with Gavan Casey, Bernard Jackman, and Murray Kinsella, as well as every Wednesday with Eoin Toolan, become a member of The42 at members.the42.ie.
