Irish player wages

[ourla]

Don't know how confident you can be of the geezers figures but something to ponder and/or discuss..
http://gwladrugby.com/?p=1493

[h's dad]

Don't know how confident you can be of the geezers figures but something to ponder and/or discuss..
http://gwladrugby.com/?p=1493

He's made a few assumptions from the numbers he's seen but assuming he's not too far out I am surprised at how much each Irish "club" spends on its players and, as most of it is channelled centrally, why they don't support another couple of top level clubs.

Thanks for posting the article.

[TomWeston]

He's made a few assumptions from the numbers he's seen but assuming he's not too far out I am surprised at how much each Irish "club" spends on its players and, as most of it is channelled centrally, why they don't support another couple of top level clubs.

Spread it around more provinces/clubs?

But if that happened the Irish provinces would each have less to spend on players' salaries.

And if that happened the Irish provinces might find it more difficult to qualify for the European trophies.

And if that happened the Irish provinces might not win the European trophies as often as they have.

And if that happened the Irish provinces would not be able to brag about their 'success' compared with the, in their eyes, higher salaried PRL.

QED!

[jgriffin]

A right eye-opener! We always suspected a lot more money was flying around (as revealed by BOD's income some years back). Nice to see a reasonable attempt at forensic analysis.

[tig1]

A good way to look at it is as percentage of turnover.

So if i read it correctly Leinster has a turnover of 12 million euro (before competition monies) then it says Munster has a turnover of 17 million euro.

I believe Tigers is about 24 million euro. (19/20 million pounds).

So very broadly those provinces are paying 7-8 million salary vs a club like Tigers at around 5.5 million, their percentage of turnover in relative terms to Tigers is massive.

The point being on that ratio Tigers are able to break even, or make a small profit, so it gives an idea of the scale of the subsidy relative to the actual commercial ability of the province.

But an interesting model, and very successful for the Irish.

[mol2]

I think it simply confirms what the "greedy English & French clubs" suspected - that they are expected to compete in a tournament that is skewed to act as and fund the Irish development squads - er sorry should have said Leinster, Ulster and Munster and gratefully accept that the money that follows the English and French clubs because of the TV revenues to be handed over to them.

Of course greedy could be seen as a euphemism for seeking level playing field and funding!

Much as I've enjoyed the H cup I can't help but think that perhaps the European competitions should have been allowed to die rather than continue to include sides funded by their national union and thus leave club rugby to clubs.

[Smudge]

MOL2 wrote:-

Much as I've enjoyed the H cup I can't help but think that perhaps the European competitions should have been allowed to die rather than continue to include sides funded by their national union and thus leave club rugby to clubs.

Well said chum, I couldn't agree with you more.

[stonebob]

the english and french unions fund their clubs as well ..4or5 million per english club is what i read somewhere..and conor o shea was on irish tv last week saying his spending for next year at harliquins has increased hughly and that irish provinces are going to be left behind when it comes to competing for players..

[TomWeston]

the english and french unions fund their clubs as well ..4or5 million per english club is what i read somewhere..

Authoritative source, please, or was that messageboard conjecture?

[Cardiff Tig]

Much as I've enjoyed the H cup I can't help but think that perhaps the European competitions should have been allowed to die rather than continue to include sides funded by their national union and thus leave club rugby to clubs.

So just an Anglo-French cup then...

[kornboy130]

the english and french unions fund their clubs as well ..4or5 million per english club is what i read somewhere..and conor o shea was on irish tv last week saying his spending for next year at harliquins has increased hughly and that irish provinces are going to be left behind when it comes to competing for players..

Factually incorrect. There are some payments which come the way of PRL clubs (split equally between all 12 clubs) for England player releases but nothing in the way of financing the regions in Ireland (to be expected really... given that the Regions are owned by the Union).

[h's dad]

the english and french unions fund their clubs as well ..4or5 million per english club is what i read somewhere..

Authoritative source, please, or was that messageboard conjecture?

It's a bit old but at least I'm not just making stuff up:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... l-war.html

Around £100million in total over 8 years for player release, a structured season and the right to buy clubs - about a million per year per club; I expect the top clubs would rather keep their players.

[TomWeston]

So about £1 million per club per year then, unlike the IRFU €4+ million per club, per year.

That gives some perspective!

[h's dad]

So about £1 million per club per year then, unlike the IRFU €4+ million per club, per year.

That gives some perspective!

I don’t really mind how the money works. For example the English tv money is contracted through PRL so is not a payment from RFU. Other nations may have it contracted through their home unions so it looks like greater funding but creates a similar pot. What is important is how much clubs or “clubs” have to spend on their squads which has to be comparable in the pursuit of a level playing field. This is what the original article is implying is out of kilter with the Irish allegedly spending even more than the French, which, as they don’t seem to have the foreign legions of other some other countries seems rather strange.