Seven of the 10 English Premiership clubs are balance sheet insolvent, according to an independent financial industry report which has prompted a stark warning that unless the sport embraces change it is “heading for a precipice”.
A comprehensive study analysing the financial sustainability of all the Premiership sides, unveiled by the leading UK corporate recovery and insolvency firm Leonard Curtis, concluded that only three clubs – Leicester, Northampton and Gloucester – would be viable without the backing of wealthy owners and said they must face “some harsh realities”.
The report, which has aggregated the latest publicly available audited figures, says the 10 clubs collectively lost around £30.5m in the year 2022‑23, adding further to an already significant debt mountain. Overall the clubs have net debts of £311m, with nine having made losses of more than £1m in the 2022-23 season.
Neither Premiership Rugby nor the Rugby Football Union were involved directly in the report which runs to 67 pages and ranks among the more comprehensive pieces of work on the state of the modern English club game.
The former England international James Haskell, who supplied the foreword, said the study “paints a bleak picture” and expressed his wish that “it wakes rugby up” to the need to change the way it thinks and operates. “This is now a line in the sand moment where all the spin and bravado around how rugby is faring needs to stop,” said Haskell, who won 77 caps for England and played most of his club rugby at the now defunct Wasps.
“Rugby for me appears to believe that just because we have always done it in a certain way that is the right way, when it’s clear that unless drastic change happens our game is heading for a very untenable position in the future. We say we are professional but in my humble opinion we are far from it and at times resemble the wild west.”
The Premiership has already lost three clubs – Worcester, Wasps and London Irish – in recent times and the report warns that falling broadcasting revenue is a “significant worry” for all the remaining clubs.
It also expresses “justifiable concern” over the current debt levels in the league and highlights the widening gap between clubs like Harlequins, who generated the league’s highest revenue figure of £26. 8m, and Newcastle who propped up the list with £11.2m.
In terms of debt, the report has Bristol topping the list to the tune of £60m, with the “best” side in that regard being Exeter with net debts of £15m at the end of 2022-23. It makes the next 18 months, in Haskell’s view, pivotal to the professional club game’s existence.
“I don’t have an axe to grind but I saw first-hand from the age of 16 to 35 the mistakes being made in the sport and just how badly things are done in almost every aspect. Rugby is heading for a precipice.
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“I think they’re rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic with some of the rule changes they’re trying to bring in. I’m telling you now there are warning signs everywhere. If I was a rugby player, I’d be terrified by this report.
“From what I have seen, experienced and learned, my belief is that the old-school values, amateur ethos and poor business acumen have led to the creation of a top-tier sport in England where several Premiership clubs could be in financial difficulties. So I hope this report wakes rugby up. For me, unless the game is run and sold properly, it will be a sleeping giant for years to come.”
Premiership Rugby declined to comment on Wednesday night.