Ben's Beliefs: Why don't Premiership clubs make money?

This season's Gallagher Premiership has exploded into new levels of popularity, with viewing figures drastically increasing. So, why is it that clubs aren't making a profit and are instead reliant on a wealthy benefactor?

Average audiences are up 10 per cent versus the 2023/24 season, this weekend’s final sold out months ago, while TNT Sports’ live-to-live scheduling strategy has seen Saturday afternoon Premiership Rugby matches draw a 47 per cent rise in audiences when directly following a Premier League football match versus weeks with no Premier League lead-in.

Cost Base Too High, Revenue Base Too Narrow

The fundamental problem is that while interest is up, income streams haven’t kept pace with expenses. Player wages have ballooned over the last decade. Even with the salary cap trimmed in recent seasons, the sheer depth of the squad required to survive a 10-month campaign means costs remain stubbornly high.

Meanwhile, revenue is lopsided. Gate receipts and match-day sales account for the bulk of club income, but with stadium capacities often capped between 10,000 and 25,000, there’s a hard ceiling to what clubs can earn from ticket sales. TV money, while growing, remains modest compared to other sports—Premiership Rugby’s latest broadcast deal with TNT Sports pales in comparison to Premier League or even Top 14 figures.

Too Many Clubs, Too Few Blueprints

Rugby’s financial failures are often individualised—Wasps, Worcester Warriors and London Irish were mismanaged, we’re told. But their collapses weren't outliers—they were warnings. Clubs with weak fan bases, poor stadium deals, or ownership dependent on subsidies are always one bad season away from disaster. The survival of Leicester, Harlequins, and Exeter doesn’t mean the model works. It means those clubs found rare blueprints that others haven’t.

Moreover, clubs have struggled to tap into their digital potential. Streaming, global fan engagement, and data-driven marketing are standard in other sports. In rugby, these remain underdeveloped. You’d be hard-pressed to find a Premiership club with a subscription-based digital model or content platform that generates meaningful income.

Short-Term Thinking vs Long-Term Investment

The league’s attempts to stabilise through private equity, most notably, CVC Capital Partners’ investment, have yielded cash injections but not structural change. Money was spent plugging holes rather than building foundations. Academies are under pressure, women’s pathways remain underfunded, and grassroots links are often transactional rather than transformational.

In truth, very few Premiership clubs behave like long-term businesses. Many function more like high-end lifestyle ventures—wealthy owners bankrolling an expensive passion project without a roadmap to sustainability.

Fans Are Invested—But It’s Not Enough

The tragic irony is that rugby fans are among the most loyal in British sport. They travel, they spend, they stay. Yet even full stadiums can’t offset the underlying cracks in the sport’s economics. Without smarter commercial strategies, better digital engagement, and more efficient cost control, the current boom in interest could easily mask the fact that the league is structurally unsound.

Premiership Rugby has an identity and a good product. But until it evolves its business brain to match its on-field brawn, it will remain a league admired for its compelling play—and pitied for its balance sheet.