Rugby union in England stands at a crossroads. The professional era, launched with optimism in 1995, has struggled to deliver a viable business model nearly three decades after its inception.
Recent years have seen several high-profile club collapses, mounting debts and a sector-wide dependency on wealthy benefactors. This article examines how rugby union could make the transition to a more financially sustainable future, drawing on insights from industry and academic work.
The crisis defined
Three historic English clubs – London Irish, Wasps and Worcester Warriors – fell into administration between 2022 and 2023. Their debts exceeded a combined total of £90 million.
Indeed, no Premiership rugby club turned a profit in 2022/23, according to the 2024 Leonard Curtis rugby finance report, the first publicly available deep dive into the financial performance of the game.
Gloucester Rugby came closest to breaking even, with a loss of just over £0.5 million, but all the other Premiership clubs posted losses of more than £1 million. The highest loss, posted by Saracens, was £5.3 million.
Seven of the ten clubs were technically insolvent, operating only due to continued financial injections from owners. Many clubs also showed significant amounts of debt on their balance sheet, ranging from £15.6 million (Exeter Chiefs) to £60.8 million (Bristol Bears).
There are broader systemic failures underpinning this crisis, according to research on rugby union’s finances (see Wilson and Plumley, 2017; Golding et al, 2025).
One study that analyses 20 years of club accounts finds persistent loss-making, weak cost control and a mismatch between expenditure and revenue growth (Golding et al, 2025). Another draws similar conclusions using an earlier ten-year dataset, and confirms that the game has encountered financial difficulties over the last two decades (Wilson and Plumley, 2017).
Despite recent substantial investments from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners and a lucrative TV deal with TNT Sports, clubs continue to burn through cash at an alarming rate.
Indeed, if current trends persist, there is a realistic possibility that even more clubs may vanish, weakening the competition and threatening the sport’s domestic and international appeal.
Striving for financial sustainability: a long-term play
The historical finances show a rather bleak picture for the sport. Yet there have been green shoots of recovery in the last two seasons with highly competitive league competitions and match day attendances. TV audiences and fan engagement have also boosted.
Could these developments offer promise for the future of rugby union in England? Echoing calls in the academic and industry research, we present a roadmap for the sport to tackle these significant challenges head on and move towards financial sustainability.
The proposed changes address governance, cost structures and affordability, alternative revenue streams, league structure, community roots and resilience.
Implement centralised governance
Rugby union has historically suffered from a fragmented governance structure. It has grappled with issues surrounding salary caps and open versus closed leagues. The salary cap has consistently been raised throughout the sport’s history, and there remains debate as to whether it should be set independently by an external body rather than by the clubs themselves, to ensure more sensible and sustainable levels. The Premiership (tier 1) has also at times placed a moratorium on relegation, most notably between 2020 and 2022.
Issues like these have meant that the sport has borrowed elements of both the European model of team sport (open leagues, no or little wage control, no revenue sharing) and the American model of team sports (closed leagues, revenue sharing, salary caps and franchise systems). Rugby union has often adopted a hybrid of these models, which has caused governance strain and financial challenges.
English rugby union clubs operate with a high degree of autonomy, often prioritising short-term sporting success over long-term stability. Other governing bodies in the sport operate a more centralised model – for example, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) employs players and owns the professional teams. This model has helped the IRFU to control costs, manage player welfare and deliver national team success.
English rugby could learn from this. A unified governance structure combining the Rugby Football Union (RFU), Premiership Rugby Limited (PRL) and the clubs is perhaps a way forward. Such an entity could oversee central contracting of players to manage wage inflation, a unified commercial and broadcast deal to pool revenues, and standardised financial reporting and benchmarking.
Tackle the cost base
Rugby union clubs have too often built cost structures based on ambition, rather than affordability. The notion of building a cost base and then trying to generate revenues to cover it is fundamentally flawed, often resulting in the excessive losses detailed above.
As a result, cost control must go beyond the salary cap and look to audit and reduce non-player costs (including the size of executive teams or underused facilities). A shared service model, particularly in the area of player cost and wage control, across clubs is also an option that could reduce duplication and allow the opportunity for flexible player contracts tied to central funding or revenue metrics.
The salary cap system, introduced in 1999, was intended to enforce financial responsibility. Yet repeated breaches – most notoriously by Saracens – and loopholes have undermined its efficacy.
What’s more, the cap – set at £6.4 million for the 2024/25 season (although with various exceptions) – is considered more of a target up to which clubs should spend, rather than a limit that should be balanced against revenues earned. The ‘hard’ cap must be properly enforced, with severe penalties for breaches, real-time salary audits and full transparency.
Some argue that regulatory reforms, like the post-Saracens Myners report, were reactive rather than transformative (Golding et al, 2025). A proactive and independently monitored cap – possibly linked to club turnover (as in French rugby) – would align spending with income more effectively. Stricter monitoring of wage bills and centralised regulation could also dramatically improve fiscal discipline.
Diversify revenue streams
Rugby clubs have generally failed to diversify revenue beyond income from match days. The pandemic exposed this vulnerability, with many clubs reliant on gate receipts collapsing as stadiums sat empty.
Rugby must embrace modern revenue-generation tactics, such as stadium development and multi-use facilities. Clubs that own their stadiums can benefit financially by offering a range of different events that could unlock year-round revenue. For example, Gloucester Rugby host music concerts to generate revenue out of season – a simple yet effective use of their ground.
Clubs must also maximise their presence on digital platforms, aiming content at a younger audience, including behind-the-scenes footage or promoting young players, such as Henry Pollock, as brand ambassadors. They could also provide streaming of academy or women’s games and find new ways of engaging with fans through digital platforms, following models seen in football and the National Football League (NFL) in the United States.
Technology should also be used to create ‘loyalty loops’, recognising that a customer’s journey does not end with the first transaction, enabling clubs to grow the next generation of fans and generate added value revenue opportunities. Customer relationship management (CRM) systems, fan apps and data-driven insights can all be enabled to personalise and enhance the supporter experience.
Vertical integration could help in this regard. Clubs could bundle merchandise, memberships and experiences into unified fan offerings to deepen engagement and spending. Global expansion and international tours could further leverage rugby’s growing markets (for example, in Japan and the United States, where the sport’s popularity is rising).
Some initiatives closer to home have already brought early success. Hosting regional rivalry ‘event games’ at national stadiums can draw bigger crowds and is a strategy that should be pursued.
For example, in 2024/25, Bristol Bears launched their new ‘big day out’ fixture where they played a match at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, which has a capacity of 74,500 compared with Ashton Gate’s 27,000. The same season also saw Harlequins play two home games at the Allianz Stadium (Twickenham), bringing in crowds of 60,000 and 82,000. Similarly, Saracens played a fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a crowd of 55,000.
This momentum needs to be maintained through family-friendly initiatives and entertainment zones to improve the appeal of match days.
Reform the league structure and restore promotion/relegation with prudence
The temporary ‘ring-fencing’ of the Premiership – whereby promotion and relegation were suspended – until 2024/25 was intended to stabilise clubs. In reality, it has had the opposite effect, weakening the integrity of the competition and diminishing incentives for Championship clubs.
A more dynamic but financially prudent structure could involve a two-tier Premiership, with controlled promotion/relegation based on financial and sporting criteria. The new set of minimum standards criteria is a positive step forward in this regard. This helps to ensure that Premiership clubs and promoted clubs have suitable facilities to protect player safety and welfare, and to provide a good quality, safe environment for spectators.
Revenue sharing and parachute payments – allocations to relegated clubs to lessen the financial impact of dropping a league – could also protect promoted/relegated clubs from financial challenges. But revenue distribution models are never easy to implement, as clubs will always protect themselves over collective action.
Provide incentives for community roots and social impact
Rugby union’s heritage lies in its communities, as it does in most European team sports. Yet financial pressures have eroded these bonds, which at its most extreme has led to clubs ceasing to exist.
The sustainability of the sport depends on rebuilding those connections, not just for attendance but also for broader social relevance. Connections with an active fan base are crucial for restoring repeat revenue-generating activities and selling more content.
Clubs must have the incentives to develop youth academies and invest in grassroots, to help to build a fan base for the future. They must also play an active role in contributing to social outcomes (for example, education, health and social inclusion projects through club outreach).
The sport should also seek to leverage women’s rugby and diversity, as new growth markets. New fans can be enticed to double-header games, as we see in the Hundred cricket franchise tournament.
With England set to host the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, now is the time to invest in women’s clubs, ensuring that growth is matched with sound financial foundations.
Align with climate goals for long-term resilience
Environmental sustainability is no longer optional, as highlighted in the 2024 Leonard Curtis report. Climate events disrupt matches, damage infrastructure and increase costs. To date, only two current Premiership clubs – Bristol Bears and Northampton Saints – have signed the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework.
By taking steps to limit their emissions – through less carbon-intensive travel (particularly in European competitions), installing renewable energy sources in stadiums, promoting green transport options for fans, and engaging sponsors aligned with environmental, social and governance (ESG) values – rugby clubs can both contribute to the climate change agenda and reap financial benefits.
Beyond compliance, this also presents a branding opportunity that can help clubs to become more attractive to younger, socially conscious fans and corporate partners.
Conclusion: a call to action
Rugby union is not beyond saving, but the clock is ticking. The Leonard Curtis report posts clear warning signs. What’s more, the RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney has publicly declared that the game’s model is ‘broken’.
The path to financial sustainability will require courage, collaboration and innovation. Stakeholders, from the RFU and club owners to fans and potentially even the government (as we have seen with football’s creation of an independent regulator), must recognise that the sport’s romantic ideals must now be grounded in economic reality. Rugby’s survival depends on finally matching that passion with professionalism.
Where can I find out more?
Who are experts on this question?
- Bill Gerrard
- Andy Golding
- Daniel Plumley
- Rob Wilson
Authors: Daniel Plumley, Rob Wilson and Andy Golding
Photo: leighcol for iStock
