Sarries Accounts

PAW · Post by **PAW** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 12:49 pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/35400355

If clubs can loose £4m per year and carry £40m debts, surely that amounts to buying trophies?

Should we follow football and bring in financial fairplay rules? I know that could send Sarries, Bath and a few of the more eccentric French owners scurrying to their solicitors offices, but clubs like Exeter have shown you can be successful, prudent and respected.
Most importantly, it makes for a better competition.

PAW · Post by **PAW** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 12:55 pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/35400355

If clubs can loose £4m per year and carry £40m debts, surely that amounts to buying trophies?

Should we follow football and bring in financial fairplay rules? I know that could send Sarries, Bath and a few of the more eccentric French owners scurrying to their solicitors offices, but clubs like Exeter have shown you can be successful, prudent and respected.
Most importantly, it makes for a better competition.

tigercaspian · Post by **tigercaspian** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 1:07 pm

We do have financial fairplay rules....it's called the salary cap !!!

JackFlashJonny · Post by **JackFlashJonny** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 1:36 pm

Financial fair play is a must for me...it is things like this which make me dislike modern rugby..the saddest fact of all being that the said club has very few fans so bar the billionaire owner few people are actually getting enjoyment from these titles..

Will it happen...NO..Club Rugby is already lost in my opinion and I cannot believe no-one stopped the money men from taking over our game..

jgriffin · Post by **jgriffin** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 1:50 pm

The money men have always been around the game, some clubs benefitting from a rich member's largesse etc. It's the marketization that occurred with professionalism that turned clubs into commodities, brands and franchises; the money men became the business people or even the hedge funds.

darganj · Post by **darganj** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 1:52 pm

JackFlashJonny wrote:Financial fair play is a must for me...it is things like this which make me dislike modern rugby..the saddest fact of all being that the said club has very few fans so bar the billionaire owner few people are actually getting enjoyment from these titles..

Will it happen...NO..Club Rugby is already lost in my opinion and I cannot believe no-one stopped the money men from taking over our game..

Why do you care? No-one is going to lose their job or be financially broke, who cares if some rich guys splash £50m on a rugby club?

Sarries have brought loads of exciting players to the Prem and with their losses coming down, brand strengthening, TV revenues going up, and potential titles this year they could breakeven within next 2 years quite easily.

JackFlashJonny · Post by **JackFlashJonny** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 2:00 pm

darganj wrote:
JackFlashJonny wrote:Financial fair play is a must for me...it is things like this which make me dislike modern rugby..the saddest fact of all being that the said club has very few fans so bar the billionaire owner few people are actually getting enjoyment from these titles..

Will it happen...NO..Club Rugby is already lost in my opinion and I cannot believe no-one stopped the money men from taking over our game..
Why do you care? No-one is going to lose their job or be financially broke, who cares if some rich guys splash £50m on a rugby club?

Sarries have brought loads of exciting players to the Prem and with their losses coming down, brand strengthening, TV revenues going up, and potential titles this year they could breakeven within next 2 years quite easily.

Can you read

..it clearly details why I care..buying titles and having no fans to celebrate isn't Rugby in my opinion..

darganj · Post by **darganj** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 2:08 pm

Buying titles? I didn't realise it was a transaction process, I thought who wins finals tends to win the trophies?

And I have just had a quick google http://rugby.statbunker.com/competition ... omp_id=436

Admittedly its 13/14 but 6 clubs had a lower attendance that year than Sarries, so having "no fans" is another ridiculous statement.

Be happy with Leicester and what they have rather than constantly being bitter about Sarries.

Also "buying talent/players/trophies" is going to be levelled at Leicester soon with no decent English regular Prem starters under 25 by next season.

Jose · Post by **Jose** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 2:11 pm

It is not a good situation for the game - hopefully some form of financial fair play rules will be introduced in rugby. I find it particularly annoying that Saracens appear to have actively taken a long term decision not to be sustainable, in that committing to a 10,000 seater stadium means that they will never be able to support their ongoing level of spending on the squad.

I'd also like to see clubs not being able to run up the debt in this fashion - if Wray wants to fund a vanity project then that's his prerogative, but he should actually have to put real cash in to keep the club ring fenced and solvent, rather than merely a promise from elsewhere in his business empire.

Something special is happening.....they're buying titles and may acquire the European one this year to go with their domestic baubles.

Jose · Post by **Jose** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 2:15 pm

darganj wrote:Buying titles? I didn't realise it was a transaction process, I thought who wins finals tends to win the trophies?

And I have just had a quick google http://rugby.statbunker.com/competition ... omp_id=436

Admittedly its 13/14 but 6 clubs had a lower attendance that year than Sarries, so having "no fans" is another ridiculous statement.

Be happy with Leicester and what they have rather than constantly being bitter about Sarries.

Also "buying talent/players/trophies" is going to be levelled at Leicester soon with no decent English regular Prem starters under 25 by next season.

And the other clubs with lower attendance probably spent half as much on their squad rather than breaching the salary cap and then hiring some expensive lawyers to explain to PRL why black is white. Don't care what anybody spends as long as they cut their cloth according to what they generate. Saracens aren't.

DickyP · Post by **DickyP** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 2:43 pm

Talking of lots of money and no fans - has anyone else watched any of Racing's home games? Soulless stadium anyway and being virtually empty don't help.

DickyP · Post by **DickyP** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 2:45 pm

PAW wrote: .... loose £4m per year ...

I wouldn't mind a loose £4m - wouldn't matter if I did lose some of it.

JackFlashJonny · Post by **JackFlashJonny** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 3:27 pm

DickyP wrote:Talking of lots of money and no fans - has anyone else watched any of Racing's home games? Soulless stadium anyway and being virtually empty don't help.

Yes and I couldn't quite believe it...one of the greatest fly halves to ever play the game and yet there are practically no supporters there to watch him..

Darganj if you think my statements are ridiculous then there is no point in this debate as you obviously have little clue or have never been to the Allianz arena..If you don't think that Toulon have bought the last three European titles in a garish fashion not seen before then we are just looking at it from different places and best leave it there..

Leicester have lots of fans and a great supporting base so that arguement is already dead in the water..plus finding players such as McCafferey and Veainu instead of buying big money talent like Schalk Burger or Ma'a Nonu/Samu Manoa/Duane Vermeulen/Habana/Halfpenny/take your pick with Toulon the last three years..

To be honest I actually think Sarries are a ruthless well coached machine this year and don't have much of a problem with their squad in terms of big names and money spent it is just the debt and lack of fans I don't like...

Noggs · Post by **Noggs** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 3:32 pm

darganj wrote:Buying titles? I didn't realise it was a transaction process, I thought who wins finals tends to win the trophies?

And I have just had a quick google http://rugby.statbunker.com/competition ... omp_id=436

Admittedly its 13/14 but 6 clubs had a lower attendance that year than Sarries, so having "no fans" is another ridiculous statement.

Be happy with Leicester and what they have rather than constantly being bitter about Sarries.

Also "buying talent/players/trophies" is going to be levelled at Leicester soon with no decent English regular Prem starters under 25 by next season.

The average attendance figures are very misleading when it come to the London clubs and their 'Big Games' and 'Double Headers'. I means you are including a lot of corporates; freebies and double counting which is very distorting. If you wish to compare the real supporter base you are better looking at minimum attendance figures.

darganj · Post by **darganj** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 3:51 pm

Noggs wrote:
darganj wrote:Buying titles? I didn't realise it was a transaction process, I thought who wins finals tends to win the trophies?

And I have just had a quick google http://rugby.statbunker.com/competition ... omp_id=436

Admittedly its 13/14 but 6 clubs had a lower attendance that year than Sarries, so having "no fans" is another ridiculous statement.

Be happy with Leicester and what they have rather than constantly being bitter about Sarries.

Also "buying talent/players/trophies" is going to be levelled at Leicester soon with no decent English regular Prem starters under 25 by next season.

The average attendance figures are very misleading when it come to the London clubs and their 'Big Games' and 'Double Headers'. I means you are including a lot of corporates; freebies and double counting which is very distorting. If you wish to compare the real supporter base you are better looking at minimum attendance figures.

By lower attendance, I was quoting from the minimum attendance figure column....

Leicester Tigers