Gallagher Premiership 2022-2023 Season

Interesting to get more background on it, the move to coventry was never seen as a good idea, it might not have been hailed as a bad one but at the time nobody felt it was a great idea.

Rugby clubs the world over are parochial, they are community based with underage structures a major part of that and thats a big part of their success with few exceptions. The stade francais merger debacle of a few years ago is the perfect example.

Holy ****!

Wasps probably would have gone bankrupt if they stayed in London.

It was move or die.

No they couldn't have sold the stadium. They didn't really own it. They had a very long term lease that restricted what they could do with the stadium.

Any sale made by the administrator will probably be at discount rates for this reason.

Like the P shares on all the clubs balance sheet an asset that can never be sold may as well have no value.

Its a pity they couldn't rearrange the cup game from midweek to this weekend. Newcastle who they played midweek in the cup don't have a fixture this weekend.

They are also playing a friendly with Italy A in a few weeks to fill the gaps in and keep people match fit iirc.

It's worth noting that Leicester had a mini cash flow crisis losing 2 home games in a row after Wasps and Worcester collapsed.

From what I could gather, a meeting of representatives from the remaining teams took place this week.

They couldn't agree on a new fixture list. Everyone fighting their own quarter. Noone thinking of the bigger picture. (I'd hazard a guess at too many egos)

Absolutely. Utter madness.

I think if they realigned the fixture list one of the goals would be to give weekends to the cup.

Maybe there would be some more value in the cup competition if the games were on weekends rather than mid week between fixtures.

That said there is an argument that fitst teamers would be used in the cup and doing that sort of move would punish those with a deeper squad and a weaker first team.

mako clearly wrong and farrell doing a terrible job talking with the ref

Normally doesnt get pinged unless the arm comes out from the body, itoje tucked the ball and kept his arms tight.

Wow! Who would come in? The premiership needs a rethink! There needs to be some kind of way to promote it and attract more supporters.

Good for Biggar. Fine player and a competitor.

Obviously the answer is not with me. But in its current state the premiership appears to be a financial cripple. Rugby is not a very popular sport, compared to others. I believe there's the biggest number of registered players worldwide in England and yet they struggle to keep their heads above water.

Maybe a system like ours would work. Perhaps a semi union run league with the union owning part of each team. Filling stadiums is a must! There's got to be ways to keep fans coming and to attract more.

Maybe auction off England tickets for each match? Meet and greet with the players and fanzines? In it's current condition, the premiership is a mess. Maybe better business and advertising people should be involved?

I think rugby needs an enema and a reboot. Oz can't fill their stadiums for international matches! The business end needs help.

Compared to football. Compared to basketball, Compared to the nfl, baseball etc...

I said I don't know what the answer is. But, it's in current condition, the premiership is a joke. They've got to do something to make it more attractive. The premiership has been around for a while and yet it's finances are precarious.

Biggar off to Toulon, the Saints can't afford him. Simmonds leaving for a better league. They need people that can market the clubs and good business people.

There is a complete disconnect between premiership rugby fans and english rugby fans.

The typical fan at games in twickenham doesnt go to premiership games and the typical fan at premiership games doesn't go to twickenham.

He blew quins off the pitch in the first half

What a load of crap. If you honestly believe a professional ref goes into a game with a plan to make sure one team wins then you're a moron.

I'd be in favor of a French style financial commissioner that gets to review the budgetes of all clubs.

The one thing I would say is that too many teams are in small towns or cities. Without a franchise system that can't be changed but I think a lot of teams should attempt to expand their catchment areas. Running supporters buses to nearby towns and cities.

The big city teams should imo all put on an "event" or two a season. That is to say move a big clash to a bigger stadium, offer tickets cheaply and try and bring new fans to rugby. €10 ticket with an international ticket, Season ticket holders bring a friend for €10, junior tickets for cheap. 40-50K showing up for a big event could be good for developing additional casual support. Harlequins have a game in Twickenham every year. Let the others try.

The Premiership cup varies in importance from season to season. At the moment its at a low point and attended by a few hundred a game. This is because the games are scheduled mid week. The teams are completely second tier. Now its hard to find a spot in the season for the premiership cup when there's a 13 or 14 team league. If there's a ten or eleven team league you can focus the Premiership weekends away from the international windows. Play the Premiership cup during international windows with a mix of squad players and development players and draw a few thousand for each game.

Every team needs to look at what they can do. The league is struggling but so is every professional rugby league really. Every team needs to consider their options.

Just out of interest what is your evidence for these statements particluarly for the second one?

Average attendance in 2018 was 14.5k. Some drop to 9k !

Mad to think that they actively undermined the European Cup because they thought they could make more money from their domestic league. Lucky for them they got Gallagher to extend the sponsorship deal last year, I'm sure the value would be down were it being negotiated this year.