Sport Premier Bubbles Bursting??

Essexyellows

Essexyellows

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Worcester Warriors have gone belly up - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/63038335

Lots of Premier League football clubs are being supported/propped up by outside sources.

With the current financial uncertainty how long until a PL Football club goes pop?

Have the sports (across the board) reached a peak where people simply can`t afford it?
 
Sad times for the fans, players and employees of the Warriors and underlines the precarious nature of professional rugby, especially in a darkening economic climate.

Rugby Prem is probably where football was 20 years ago. Compared to today, many more Prem football clubs were in precarious positions financially. These days, while there may be eye-watering debts at some Prem football clubs, most can still operate comfortably without a fan ever having to set foot in the ground and all because of the huge amounts of revenue generated by TV and sponsorship rights etc etc...and the global appeal of the game.

Of course, the current econmic climate will mean far less leisure pound to go around, not just for punters going to games, but across the globe, for those deciding whether to pay to watch, put a bet on, buy a shirt etc etc etc. If a product has less appeal then the settlement from broadcasting rights may be less lucrative than of late (that said the super-insulated, super rich who own most of the rights now will still have ridiculous amounts to spunk on media rights without batting an eyelid, so will probably continue to do so).

PL football will be fine, it won't go pop any time soon, but any suggestion it might be in trouble and they will simply move on to the next lucrative model which will be the European league, which would surely follow quite quickly as larger clubs look to preserve what they have.

But it won't really be at elite levels where the longer term effects are felt the worst. It will always be lower down the foodchain and grassroots will (once again) suffer the most...just like with Trussonomics ;)

In rugby, what remains to be seen is the long term sustainability of the Premiership model in this and other rugby playing nations. The reality is that unless they can really make rugby a sport with truly global appeal, with hundreds of millions up for grabs in TV and sponsorship rights, then there will always be casualties. This has been made worse by an effective "arms race" in the elite levels in rugby in terms of staff an player recruitment. The writing was on the wall when London Welsh had their brief spell in the Prem - they overstretched - it was NEVER sustainable and that is the wider problem that the top flight clubs face at present. That and the fat that several seem to have taken financial "short cuts" which are now coming home to roost (just ask HMRC) - Saracens should've been a warning to all!

Not just top flight either. The rugby pyramid is littered with clubs who've suffered from Icarus syndrome - got too big, expanded too fast and went pop, ever since they decided to pay players in anything other than beer:)
 
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Essexyellows said:
Worcester Warriors have gone belly up - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/63038335

Lots of Premier League football clubs are being supported/propped up by outside sources.

With the current financial uncertainty how long until a PL Football club goes pop?

Have the sports (across the board) reached a peak where people simply can`t afford it?
Click to expand...
Are they the ones who own Morecambe FC as well?

Meanwhile, Wasps may be going into administration, which is of interest to Coventry City as their tenants of the Ricoh arena.
 
MarkG said:
Are they the ones who own Morecambe FC as well?

Meanwhile, Wasps may be going into administration, which is of interest to Coventry City as their tenants of the Ricoh arena.
Click to expand...
You'd hope there would be a way that Coventry City could use it to their advantage and get at least a percentage of their ground back. POF were saying Cov have lost millions this season through postponements due to events outside of their control being held in the stadium.
 
Most PL teams will absolutely be fine because most of their fans would have received a nice 5% drop in income tax courtesy of Khazi Kwarteng. Gone are the days of it being a working man's sport at that level.
 
SteMerritt said:
You'd hope there would be a way that Coventry City could use it to their advantage and get at least a percentage of their ground back. POF were saying Cov have lost millions this season through postponements due to events outside of their control being held in the stadium.
Click to expand...

Plenty of Fish? :ROFLMAO:
 
The popularity of some of these sports was taken away from all but those happy to pay the various Tv main players ever increasing Monthly Subs.

Also doesn't help when they move from one platform to another and in some cases (Football Especially) needing pay 3 of them.

bbc and Itv had around 5 hours of various sports of a Saturday, what do they have to show now.
 
Current Premier League TV deal runs until 2025.

The only way that any PL club gets into trouble is if the economic situation globally is still lousy three years from now, and their next TV deal is substantially less lucrative.

Doesn't really make any difference to PL clubs - especially the smaller ones - if anyone turns up to the stadium to watch them anyhow.

Championship clubs - especially those without parachute payments - are the ones in danger if fewer people start going to games and buying replica shirts.
 
WRFC Players Ltd was wound up in the High Court yesterday.

Looks like the current owners have dissected the club into multiple companies whilst not having a pot to piddle in.

www.bbc.co.uk

Worcester Warriors: WRFC Players Ltd wound up in High Court

WRFC Players Ltd, the payroll arm of Worcester Warriors, is wound up in the High Court in London over money owed to HMRC.
www.bbc.co.uk

"The ground and the club are controlled by WRFC Trading Ltd, which went into administration last Monday, becoming the first to suffer such a fate since Richmond in 1999.

Much of the land around the ground now belongs to other companies owned by co-owners Jason Whittingham and Colin Goldring.

Begbies Traynor, the administrators appointed to deal with the WRFC Trading Ltd wing of the club, will continue to deal with that part of the process.

But the contracts of all players, backroom staff, administrative staff, and the women's squad, who play under the University of Worcester Warriors banner, are all effectively terminated."

Another failure by the sports governing body. :rolleyes:
 
SteMerritt said:
Rugby 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...

Yes, however it shows how separating clubs, players, grounds etc across what look like shell companies can very soon go wrong without good governance.

It also shows the failings by those in charge of the checks and balances.

Remember the Rugby Premiership "trough" started in 1987 and football was 5 years later, with the current climate it wouldn`t take a lot for something similar to happen in football.
 
SteMerritt said:
Rugby 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
Not quite as bad as running, Ste. I mean, who in their right mind does that for fun! It should be reserved for when you're late/about to miss something, such as a more useful form of transport/in mortal danger :ROFLMAO:

On a more serious, rugby-related note. The finances in Rugby generally are in a right old mess and you're right @Essexyellows , it is a failure on the part of the authorities to have proper checks and balances (this is where light-touch regulation and allowing market forces to run riot leads;)).

Rugby is obviously a much smaller game than football and yet you still have clubs at level 6 (equivalent to National League North/South in footy) paying some players up to £25k a year as part timers, because they have a lucrative sponsorship package, the continuation of which is dependent on back to back promotions for the next couple of seasons. Other clubs at that level don't want to get promotion because they know the financial burden of going higher is completely unsustainable.
 
Essexyellows said:
WRFC Players Ltd was wound up in the High Court yesterday.

Looks like the current owners have dissected the club into multiple companies whilst not having a pot to piddle in.

www.bbc.co.uk

Worcester Warriors: WRFC Players Ltd wound up in High Court

WRFC Players Ltd, the payroll arm of Worcester Warriors, is wound up in the High Court in London over money owed to HMRC.
www.bbc.co.uk

"The ground and the club are controlled by WRFC Trading Ltd, which went into administration last Monday, becoming the first to suffer such a fate since Richmond in 1999.

Much of the land around the ground now belongs to other companies owned by co-owners Jason Whittingham and Colin Goldring.

Begbies Traynor, the administrators appointed to deal with the WRFC Trading Ltd wing of the club, will continue to deal with that part of the process.

But the contracts of all players, backroom staff, administrative staff, and the women's squad, who play under the University of Worcester Warriors banner, are all effectively terminated."

Another failure by the sports governing body. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
The players registered to/employed by a different company WRFC Players Ltd. Who'd have thought such a tangled web would be trying to cover financial difficulties...
 
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