NRL Salary Cap vs French Top 14

[SteveM]

Interesting article about how much money is in french union and how they intend to spend it. Maybe more raids to the NRL.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/rugby_union/article4648122.ece

The budgets figures below were in the paper not online.I have used and approx exchange rate of $1.72 to the euro.


Euro (Millions) Aus Dollars (Millions)
Toulouse 22 - 37.84
Stade Francais 18.5 - 31.82
Clermont Auvergne 15.6 - 26.83
Toulon 14 - 24.08
Biarritz 13.5 - 23.22
Perpigan 12.7 - 21.84
Brive 12.5 - 21.50
Bayonne 11.5 - 19.78
Montpellier 11.5 - 19.78
Castres 11 - 18.92
Bourgoin 9.8 - 16.86
Montauban 9.5 - 16.34
Dax 7.5 - 12.90
Mont-de-Marsan 5.4 - 9.29

Apologies for the formatting !!!

 

[bulos01]

r u joking? they are spending that much money! good luck to them then

 

[Brycey]

i'm more concerned about the exchange rate, here's hoping it improves drastically in 2 years

 

[Drzoidberg]

Sh*t and they could only pay Sonny Bill that much, he's gonna quit after the try on debut claiming Toulon don't pay him what he's worth

 

[Perth Red]

Geez, where on earth do they get their money from? They must have some very very rich backers as RU isn't that big a TV sport in France.

 

[Calixte]

They get sh*tloads from the French government to start with...

Union's connection with the government didn't end in Vichy in 1941.

 

[t-ba]

Interesting article about how much money is in french union and how they intend to spend it. Maybe more raids to the NRL.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/rugby_union/article4648122.ece

The budgets figures below were in the paper not online.I have used and approx exchange rate of $1.72 to the euro.


Euro (Millions) Aus Dollars (Millions)
Toulouse 22 - 37.84
Stade Francais 18.5 - 31.82
Clermont Auvergne 15.6 - 26.83
Toulon 14 - 24.08
Biarritz 13.5 - 23.22
Perpigan 12.7 - 21.84
Brive 12.5 - 21.50
Bayonne 11.5 - 19.78
Montpellier 11.5 - 19.78
Castres 11 - 18.92
Bourgoin 9.8 - 16.86
Montauban 9.5 - 16.34
Dax 7.5 - 12.90
Mont-de-Marsan 5.4 - 9.29

Apologies for the formatting !!!

That's overall budget not wage bills. Big Difference. But still, quite insane.

 

[Slackboy72]

Well the Broncos budget is the biggest at roughly $22m. Most other top NRL clubs are coming in at $15m. Melbourne is somewhere in the $20m~$25m range but they spend so much more money on recruiting than anyone else.

Still you have at least 6 clubs that are better off than NRL clubs in terms of spending power.

 

[t-ba]

Well the Broncos budget is the biggest at roughly $22m. Most other top NRL clubs are coming in at $15m. Melbourne is somewhere in the $20m~$25m range but they spend so much more money on recruiting than anyone else.

Still you have at least 6 clubs that are better off than NRL clubs in terms of spending power.

Most are houses built on sands however. Alot of those top clubs are fugged if investors lose interest or council is forced to tighten the purse strings.

 

[bartman]

This proves why the argument to raise the salary cap and reward our elite (well those that are greedy anyway) is doomed to fail.

As a sporting code, or indeed as a national economy we can't compete with the money available for what is a minor attraction in France. It's the plaything of rich French businessmen, and we don't have many/enough rich Aussies who want to throw their money away by owning/running a sports team on weekends.

The only way forward is to get the game back to what people used to value about it - pride for your team, bleeding for your jersey, and putting in effort and being rewarded by things other than mere money - competitive rep spots, status in the community etc, keeping the league grassroots healthy from competition of our other local codes (union/afl/soccer). That's got us through 100 years, and it can keep the game going for many more without bankrupting it to keep the SBWs happy.

It needs a combined effort on the part of the league, it's media owners/partners, the clubs, the players themselves, and the greedy leeches aka player managers. And yes it's a big call and will be very hard to do with so many self-serving interests having emerged through and since the Super League war.

 

[BrisVegas]

Well the Broncos budget is the biggest at roughly $22m. Most other top NRL clubs are coming in at $15m. Melbourne is somewhere in the $20m~$25m range but they spend so much more money on recruiting than anyone else.

Still you have at least 6 clubs that are better off than NRL clubs in terms of spending power.

The Brisbane Broncos' operating revenue for 2007 was $24.7m, which includes $2.16m in profit (of which $1m was paid out in dividends). The club's operating revenue in 2006 was $22.9m, which means there was a yearly increase in earnings of $1.8m.

The above numbers would put the Broncos about fourth on the above list, and if the Broncos were allowed to dip into club affiliated sponsors to top up contracts they would be competitive with the top few clubs in French RU.

It's also shows how lopsided the figures are in terms of the cut of revenue the players get, now down to 16.6% when in the 80's it was about 75-80% of turnover. I'd be annoyed if I was a player that was bringing in the revenue and was getting such a pitiful slice that isn't even being adjusted with the profit growth of some clubs.

It also raises the (favourable) issue of what to do with all the cash. I know that the Broncos are looking at fielding the largest full time coaching staff in Australian domestic sport next year.


Ivan Henjak - Coach (Full-time) assisted by:

- Allan Langer - Assistant Coach: Halves (Full-time)
- Shane Webke - Assistant Coach: Forwards (Full-time)
- Paul Green - Assistant Coach: Skills (Full-time)
- Peter Ryan - Assistant Coach: Defence (Full-time)
- Mick Devere - Assistant Coach: Backs and Kicking (Full-time)

Dean Benton - Performance Director (Full-time) assisted by:

- Andrew Croll - Athletic Performance Coach (Full-time)
- Dan Baker - Strength Coach (Full-time)
- Tim Gabbett - Sports Scientist (Full-time)

 

[bartman]

f**k me, that's a lot of coaching staff!!

 

[SET2JT]

i think a transfer system is the way to go.The dogs would have gotten a lot more fore $bw and the dragons would have at least got something for gaz leaving.All clubs would have to do is sell a few of their best players and they will have enough money to keep our next superstars in the nrl

 

[dallymessenger]

That's overall budget not wage bills. Big Difference. But still, quite insane.

thats not that big a deal then as the currency accounts for lots of it.

the broncos have revenues of $24 million and quite a few clubs are at $15 - $18 million in spending.

 

[The Observer]

If the Top 14 clubs are like English Guinness Premiership RU clubs, then they have also increased elite squad sizes from 30 to 42 players. Also, they have as many if not more coaches to cater for specialist RU skills.

Let's keep in mind that Top 14 clubs must abide by an overseas quota of 2 players. Therefore they can only recruit a maximum 2 players that only have an Australian or NZ passport. Exempt from this are players that qualify under the Kolpak Rule (e.g. Pacific Island or South African passport holders) or EU passport holders. Those clubs will look at Rugby Union players first before RL players. Of course, Luke Rooney (British passport from English parents) and Sonny Bill Williams (Samoan passport) were exempt from the Top 14 overseas quota.

Keep in mind too that Toulon's owner threatened to withdraw his backing before this season after season ticket holders protested an increase in season ticket prices.

Finally, representative of the clubs, Serge Blanco, has decried the number of imports and the signing of of foreigners on short term contracts. Given the dismal performance of the French national team in the World Cup, Six Nations and the recent Australian tour, it is an issue.

 

[dallymessenger]

This proves why the argument to raise the salary cap and reward our elite (well those that are greedy anyway) is doomed to fail.

As a sporting code, or indeed as a national economy we can't compete with the money available for what is a minor attraction in France. It's the plaything of rich French businessmen, and we don't have many/enough rich Aussies who want to throw their money away by owning/running a sports team on weekends.

The only way forward is to get the game back to what people used to value about it - pride for your team, bleeding for your jersey, and putting in effort and being rewarded by things other than mere money - competitive rep spots, status in the community etc, keeping the league grassroots healthy from competition of our other local codes (union/afl/soccer). That's got us through 100 years, and it can keep the game going for many more without bankrupting it to keep the SBWs happy.

It needs a combined effort on the part of the league, it's media owners/partners, the clubs, the players themselves, and the greedy leeches aka player managers. And yes it's a big call and will be very hard to do with so many self-serving interests having emerged through and since the Super League war.

i see where you are coming from but i dont agree

french union wont spend 1.5 - 2 million pa on nrl players easily.
all we need to do is get the top players at 1 million or so in RL and they wont bother risking it in a different sport.

the next TV deal should see the top NRL players getting $1 million or so, excluding third party deals, and that should be more than enough to keep our stars.

 

[Perth Red]

I see that even soccer is starting to pay its players a $million for the very best. Strange how a game with such a small income can afford it yet RL can't? It would seem that of the 5 major codes RL pays its star players the least. In all other codes the top player can earn a $million.

 

[dallymessenger]

I see that even soccer is starting to pay its players a $million for the very best. Strange how a game with such a small income can afford it yet RL can't? It would seem that of the 5 major codes RL pays its star players the least. In all other codes the top player can earn a $million.

soccer cant afford it either.

its relied on a marquee allowance and having rich owners funding from their pockets.

 

[SteveM]

I forgot to mention that the 16 fully professional French Second division clubs also increasing their budgets as well. The biggest ones Racing Metro and Agen are around 10 M Euros / 17.2 $Aus.

 

[Bulldog Force]

Geez, where on earth do they get their money from? They must have some very very rich backers as RU isn't that big a TV sport in France.

Millionaire Owners
French Government
Wealthy Investment Bankers/Lawyers
Private Sponsors
Public Sponsors

You name it.