Exclusive: Prem Rugby kicks plan to hike stadiums to 15,000 into touch
Prem Rugby has torpedoed proposals for a top-flight shake-up that would have seen champions Bath Rugby’s stadium deemed too small for the top flight, Morning Wire can reveal.
A study, run by Deloitte, looking at how Prem Rugby can raise the minimum standards of entry to the English top flight raised the prospect of increasing the required stadium size from its current 10,001 threshold up to 15,000.
That number would surpass the capacity of five existing Prem Rugby clubs – champions Bath, as well as London clubs Saracens and Harlequins, and northern pair Sale Sharks and Newcastle Red Bulls – and every team in the second tier Champ.
If passed, the proposals would have seen five of Prem Rugby’s 10 teams instantly made ineligible for the competition.
But Morning Wire understands the plans, which Champ Rugby sources described as “hilarious”, were torpedoed by Prem Rugby, with all stakeholders sharing the view that the move would be a step too far – even for “ambitious” clubs.
Prem Rugby future?
It comes amid the formulation of proposals – understood to be dubbed Project Forge – to assess the future of domestic rugby in the top two tiers of the English pyramid. Plans could see the introduction of ringfencing and franchising, with a vote on proposals due at an RFU Council meeting at the end of the month.
Calls for franchising have grown amid mounting losses at Prem Rugby clubs – Exeter Chiefs recently registered a deficit of over £10m while Sale Sharks’ losses were in the high seven figures.
Figures in parliament have called on any plans to be scrutinised by the House of Commons given that public money in the form of unpaid Covid-19 support loans remain outstanding across the league.
Energy drinks giant Red Bull’s purchase of Newcastle could be a sign of where England’s top flight is heading, with previous reports suggesting the likes of Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group and Manchester United majority stakeholders the Glazer family have looked at whether rugby franchising could be profitable.
Project Forge will consist of a number of plans, with Deloitte and US merchant bank the Raine Group heavily involved with the future of what the top flight looks like.