UCFB academic co-authors new insight into finances of English professional rugby

A UCFB academic has played an integral part in the writing of a recent report into the finances of modern rugby, putting the professional game under fresh scrutiny.

Professor Rob Wilson, head of UCFB’s executive education courses alongside VSI Executive Education, worked alongside the Leonard Curtis team to produce the second edition of the report.

The report, launched in November at an event at London’s Honourable Artillery Company, features a breakdown of all Premiership Rugby clubs’ financial results from 2014-15 to 2023-24.

The findings show that despite encouraging signs of growth in matchday and commercial revenues at several clubs, no team made a profit for a third successive year, with the ten teams making a combined loss of £34m in 2023-24.

Over the ten-year period assessed in the report, the cumulative losses of Premiership Rugby clubs now stand at £176.9m.

In 2023-24, clubs lost £3.4m on average, equivalent to around £283,000 per month and roughly £71,000 per week. 

The figures also reveal that total debt in 2023-24 for the ten current clubs amounted to £342.5m, up from £329.8m in 2022-23 for the same set of clubs.

For 2023-24, six clubs were balance sheet insolvent, meaning they were reliant on financial support from their owners, as they were also loss-making. That compares with seven clubs for 2022-23, although the change came from Saracens’ capitalisation of loans due to the club’s parent company.

The report also assesses a possible franchise model for Premiership Rugby and concludes clubs could save between £1.1m and £1.9m from shared services, combined with centralised governance, but warns a wage to revenue ratio limit of 70% may be needed initially.

Professor Rob Wilson said about the report: “English professional rugby has now had a decade of structural financial fragility, and our report shows that this is still present systemically today.

“The priority now must be building durable recurring revenue; disciplined cost control linked to key central financial metrics and genuine alignment between sporting ambition and sustainable wage spend. That is what real long-run financial health looks like.”

He added: “The franchise debate is ultimately a financial sustainability debate. Fragmented incentives and volatility have cost the game enormously, both competitively and reputationally. 

“If the sport wants to attract serious capital back in at scale, whether through institutional capital, private capital or new strategic partners, it must demonstrate a credible long-run route to stable cashflow and return on investment. 

“Whatever the governance model ultimately becomes, the market will reward clubs and the league for predictability in revenues (not match results – they must remain unpredictable), transparency, cost discipline and high-quality revenue growth. 

“If English rugby can execute those fundamentals, this sport can genuinely move itself into a position where growth is funded by profit, not benefactors.”

Furthermore, the report looked into the women’s game, more specifically the potential impact on Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) of the Red Roses’ victory on home soil in this year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Read the report in its entirety and see the full insight into the analysis into the game at professional level.

You can also learn more about our executive education courses, run alongside VSI Executive Education, which include MSc Sports Directorship and CEO of a Sports Organisation.

View a UCFB prospectus too to find out about our other courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level, all tailored to the global sports industry, whether it be sports media, business or coaching.