Blues further in red as board member issues crisis warning

CARDIFF Blues have fallen further into the red, with latest financial accounts showing the regional rugby side posted pre-tax losses of £1.49m in the year to June 2016.

One board member has warned the professional game in Wales is now at “crisis point”, and needs to consider creating two “super regions” with the financial clout to be competitive.

The worsening financial position was partly a result of a £300,000 fall in ticket and retail income.

In a frank assessment of the challenges facing the game in Wales, board member Martyn Ryan, pictured, said that from a “purely commercial and non emotional” view, two super regions should be based on Wales’ biggest population centres – Cardiff and Swansea – with an east and west Wales approach to capture even more potential supporters.

His comments come as the Blues region hopes to secure a 150year lease from landlord Cardiff Athletic Club to redevelop its BT Sport Arms Park home, with two possible options in a new stadium and an indoor arena. They also come against the backdrop of bigger TV and other commercial deals struck in England and France and in Ireland, which can draw on bigger crowds due to the wider geographical spread of its regions. Mr Ryan, a former partner and chief executive at Genesis Investment Management, believed the existing four regions, alongside an academy/development side in North Wales, should still exist to foster player development.

But he said the current funding model had to change to put more player squad, coaching team and financial resources behind two regions in a bid to close the gap with rivals in the other home unions and France.

A WRU blueprint to effectively centrally contract all players under a new joint venture company with the regions was rejected earlier this year.

However, discussions between the regions and the WRU – at a time when the Newport Gwent Dragons region could soon come under the control of the union – are continuing.

The latest Cardiff Blues accounts show that while the previous year was a 13-month period, on a like-like for basis losses widened from £657,950 to £1.49m.