LET FANS IN SOON OR WE FACE RUIN
Exeter supremo fears financial oblivion & admits: We need 10,000 crowd every game to break even
THE owner of English rugby’s top club has warned the Premiership elite face financial ruin – unless fans are allowed back into games soon.
Exeter boss Tony Rowe spelt out the nightmare scenario in response to a report, which claimed attendances at sporting events could be restricted to between 1,000 and 2,500 from October 1, depending on the Covid-19 infection rate.
“We need 10,000 bums on seats each game to break even – and we don’t have the overheads of some other clubs,” he said.
“So, if they’re saying crowds are going to be limited to 2,500, we’re going to say we don’t want ANY fans in, because a crowd of that size costs us more than playing behind closed doors, and we’re already losing £1million a month.
“Times that by all the Premiership clubs – they’re probably losing the same
– and we’re going to be dead. The clubs financially are going to be dead.” Rowe’s dire warning was echoed by Gloucester chief executive Lance Bradley. Speaking on BBC Radio 4, he said: “We simply have to get fans back in reasonable numbers, as soon as possible, to ensure the game survives.
“We wouldn’t be able to make it through the season if we were only allowed crowds of 2,500. In the end, that would be a disaster.”
Gloucester hosted English rugby’s second crowd pilot match on Monday night, with 1,000 spectators allowed into Kingsholm for the visit of Harlequins (top).
Exeter, who lead the Premiership and take on Northampton this Sunday for a place in the European
TRIAL RUN Gloucester fans arriving
Cup semi-finals, are the one club in England’s top flight to have made professional rugby pay.
At least they did before the pandemic struck.
“We haven’t had our accounts finalised but, for last year, which finished at the end of June, we will post a loss for the first time in our history,” said Rowe (above). “And a big loss. We’re talking about millions, not hundreds of thousands.”
Rowe still has 40 staff on furlough and says that unless Exeter are allowed to get numbers back into their conferencing facilities, as well as their stands, he is going to have to “do the unthinkable” and make people redundant.
He added: “I’ve been a businessman since I left the Royal Marines 50 years ago and, for the first time, I feel totally hopeless, because I can’t do anything to change the situation. I think people think we wander around with £20 notes falling out of our pockets. We don’t.
“I know the government are trying to protect us all. But financially we will be dead, if they don’t allow us to have some sort of numbers back in the ground.”