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Leonard Curtis unveils industry-first report on financial health of English rugby union clubs
Key Findings:
- Harlequins ranked first, scoring 3.24 in the Financial Performance Index, with Northampton Saints (3.54) and Leicester Tigers (3.89) close behind.
- Newcastle Falcons ranked last, with a score of 7.55, reflecting struggles both on and off the pitch.
- No club posted a profit in the 2022/23 season, with Saracens reporting the highest loss at £5.3 million.
- In 2022/23, seven of the ten Premiership clubs could be classed as balance sheet insolvent, meaning they were reliant on financial support from their owners, as they were also loss-making.
Harlequins have been named as England’s best-performing rugby club on and off the pitch, according to the Leonard Curtis Rugby Finance Report, which features the first-ever comprehensive index of the financial health of clubs in England’s Premiership.
The index is built on a robust and widely respected methodology developed by some of the world’s leading sports finance academics, and the report has been compiled by finance experts, rugby professionals, and business journalists.
Publication of the report was inspired by growing concerns over the financial sustainability of English club rugby and comes at a critical time for the sport, following the financial collapse of Wasps, Worcester Warriors, and London Irish.
The report was launched at an event at London’s Honourable Artillery Company on September 25, a location with a rich history as a rugby union venue going back to the founding of HAC Rugby Club in 1896.
The new Financial Performance Index for rugby union ranks the Premiership’s ten current clubs based on their financial and sporting performance over the five years from 2018/19 to 2022/23. It has been produced using the Performance Assessment Model (PAM), first introduced in 2014.
The clubs are scored against one another, with a lower score indicating better performance and 1 being a perfect score.
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The report also examines each club’s financial data across the key markers of revenue, total wages, profit/loss, debt, equity and attendances.
Harlequins led in terms of revenue earned in 2022/23 with £26.8 million, followed by Saracens at £23.2 million. However, concerns have been raised over wage-to-revenue ratios, particularly for clubs like Sale Sharks and Bristol Bears, where wages consumed over 85% of revenue.
All clubs made a loss in 2022/23. Gloucester Rugby came closest to making a profit, with a loss of just over £0.5m, but all of the others lost more than £1m. Saracens suffered the biggest loss, of £5.3m.
A ‘pounds v points’ table that ranks the clubs according to the wage cost per point scored in the 22/23 season is also included. Sale Sharks topped this ranking with a cost-per-point of £156,696, followed by Saracens (£201,784) and Leicester Tigers (£231,441) while Bath Rugby spent the most per point at £316,723.
Alex Cadwallader, director at Leonard Curtis, said: “On the field, Premiership rugby in England is as dramatic and entertaining as ever, and with five different winners in the past five seasons, it’s a league with great competitive balance too. Unfortunately, as this report reveals, the business of rugby in England is not performing nearly as well, with a worrying loss-making trend having persisted for several years now.
“Our specialism at Leonard Curtis is working with businesses facing the same kinds of financial challenges currently affecting rugby and helping them return to sustainable profitability and growth.
“Our hope with this report is that it serves as a critical resource for clubs, investors, and fans, offering a detailed examination of the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of English rugby. Ideally, collaborative change can be made to a game that is loved by many.”
James Haskell said: “As someone who has always loved English rugby, I’m saddened by the results in this report, even if they don’t come as a great surprise.
“While there aren’t many positives to take away from the findings, my hope is that this will serve as a wake-up call to the sport’s leadership to implement some real changes in the way Premiership rugby is governed and sold.”
The report includes a summary of the global picture for the sport of rugby, an assessment of the impact of climate change on English rugby and the challenges and opportunities facing women’s rugby.
For more information or to download the full report, visit https://www.leonardcurtis.co.uk/rugby-finance-report-2024
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