French Rugby fearmungering, how about some facts!!!

Hoofhearted · May 27, 2014

Listening to Matty Johns on MMM Sunday and couldnt help notice the conversation they were having about the salary cap, most notably in relation to French Rugby.

He stated that they had just signed a record $2Billion+ TV deal and their salary cap was over $20M a year, and that they are a major threat of stealing all our elite players. I decided to do some checking as I thought it sounded a bit OTT:

- It's new TV deal is in fact the biggest ever, more than doubling the last one, but less than half the NRL
- The new deal is worth 70M a year compared to over $200M a year for the NRL
- Their salary cap is approx 8.5M
- English Rugby has a TV deal of approx £46M per year
- English Super League has a TV deal of approx £36M per year

I think people should stop panicking about French Rugby, it only has it's rich owners which have always been there and will continue to be. When it comes to TV money and the level of competition etc, the NRL is by far the biggest and best domestic 'Rugby' comp in the world.

bottle · May 27, 2014

Johns is a doofus.
Make that both Johns' are doofii.

Usain Bolt · May 27, 2014

French rugby just buy the best past their prime players, just look at the All Star team Toulon has. No doubt they'll get some more after the 2015 RWC. Wouldn't be surprised if SBW went back in 2017

Timbo · May 28, 2014

Ummm... That's still a salary cap of almost 12 million dollars.

Not a bad place to be in.

Baron Vo Mandor · May 28, 2014

Any league coverage from the dribbling sensationalists simpletons at MMM is never right.

Heck Geyer even thinks its okay for 5 year old girls to choke eachother out in cage fights ffs.

RUG13Y · May 28, 2014

They should give that money to RL because they stole our assets and players during WW2. Even took our name.

Hoofhearted · May 28, 2014

Timbo said:
Ummm... That's still a salary cap of almost 12 million dollars.

Not a bad place to be in.

They have squads of between 35 to 45 players, not that much different.

Perth Red · May 28, 2014

Also they are bringing in a legit income rule to stop clubs with sugar daddy's putting loads of money in to sign players and putting the club at risk of going belly up if they walk away.

Having said that after being to the Catalans region to watch RL I would be tempted to spend a couple of years down in that beautiful,region if I was a player.

miguel de cervantes · May 28, 2014

OP points are valid.

Also, French rugby clubs are slowly inflating their wages and themselves to oblivion. USAP, the Dragons' XV competitor in Perpignan, just got relagated and low and behold, announced a massive multi-million deficit with salaries to drop 50% to 70% in an effort to keep the club afloat. This after using and abusing public money on and off for years.

Many clubs spending beyond their means to try and stay in the relegation/promotion game. A lesson for Super League.

Brutus · May 28, 2014

Hoofhearted said:
Listening to Matty Johns on MMM Sunday and couldnt help notice the conversation they were having about the salary cap, most notably in relation to French Rugby.

He stated that they had just signed a record $2Billion+ TV deal and their salary cap was over $20M a year, and that they are a major threat of stealing all our elite players. I decided to do some checking as I thought it sounded a bit OTT:

- It's new TV deal is in fact the biggest ever, more than doubling the last one, but less than half the NRL
- The new deal is worth €70M a year compared to over $200M a year for the NRL
- Their salary cap is approx €8.5M
- English Rugby has a TV deal of approx £46M per year
- English Super League has a TV deal of approx £36M per year

I think people should stop panicking about French Rugby, it only has it's rich owners which have always been there and will continue to be. When it comes to TV money and the level of competition etc, the NRL is by far the biggest and best domestic 'Rugby' comp in the world.

I thought he said a 20 billion dollar deal. Seriously. And the clowns with him just went along with it. Journo Paul Kent was one of the clowns.

Does Johns have a twitter account?

applesauce · May 28, 2014

Hoofhearted said:
They have squads of between 35 to 45 players, not that much different.

Don't have to pay Tax in France as sportsmen are classified as 'entertainers'.

whall15 · May 28, 2014

applesauce said:
Don't have to pay Tax in France as sportsmen are classified as 'entertainers'.

That's not true.

madunit · May 28, 2014

Hoofhearted said:
Listening to Matty Johns on MMM Sunday and couldnt help notice the conversation they were having about the salary cap, most notably in relation to French Rugby.

He stated that they had just signed a record $2Billion+ TV deal and their salary cap was over $20M a year, and that they are a major threat of stealing all our elite players. I decided to do some checking as I thought it sounded a bit OTT:

- It's new TV deal is in fact the biggest ever, more than doubling the last one, but less than half the NRL
- The new deal is worth ?70M a year compared to over $200M a year for the NRL
- Their salary cap is approx ?8.5M
- English Rugby has a TV deal of approx £46M per year
- English Super League has a TV deal of approx £36M per year

I think people should stop panicking about French Rugby, it only has it's rich owners which have always been there and will continue to be. When it comes to TV money and the level of competition etc, the NRL is by far the biggest and best domestic 'Rugby' comp in the world.

You do realise that 1 australian dollar isn't worth the same as 1 euro, don't you?

BlueandGold · May 28, 2014

applesauce said:
Don't have to pay Tax in France as sportsmen are classified as 'entertainers'.

No tax on French sports, that is a huge advantage.

BlueandGold · May 28, 2014

madunit said:
You do realise that 1 australian dollar isn't worth the same as 1 euro, don't you?

70million Euro = 103million Aussie dollars.

Less then half the Aussie RL deal.

NRL tv Deal 1.035m + Telstar 150m + NZ Sky ?

Top 14 = 515million

BlueandGold · May 28, 2014

Rich sugar daddies are alowing Top 14 to raise the cap to 9.5m Euros = 14m Aussie dollars for the next 3 years.

[FONT=&quot]The new figure is a €500,000 increase on the present limit but crucially youth players will no longer be included in the salary cap unless they earn in excess of €50,000 (£43,000) a year in a move designed to encourage the development of fresh talent. The latter ceiling will be reviewed on an annual basis but the actual salary cap, that was raised from €8.7m to €9.5m this season, will be remain in place for the next three campaigns.
Read more at http://www.espnscrum.com/france-top-14-2012-13/rugby/story/180729.html#p0LmqYicHVV5uP7F.99[/FONT]

magpie_man · May 28, 2014

this is more of a worrying situation for the "super *whatever*" than the nrl

Danish · May 28, 2014

Timbo said:
Ummm... That's still a salary cap of almost 12 million dollars.

Not a bad place to be in.

They also have massive taxes on high income earners, like wealth taxes paid on what you own and a 75% income tax on people earning over 1 million euro, which while in soccer doesn't particularly matter as the clubs just increased player salaries to compensate would make a big difference in rugby where they actually have a cap to work with.

morley101 · May 28, 2014

An article reporting the top 10 salaries in top14 from last year.

Johnny Wilkinson was on top earning $102,000 a month.

http://www.espnscrum.com/france-top-14-2013-14/rugby/story/194183.html

TheFrog · May 28, 2014

Usain Bolt said:
French rugby just buy the best past their prime players, just look at the All Star team Toulon has. No doubt they'll get some more after the 2015 RWC. Wouldn't be surprised if SBW went back in 2017

Toulon is a lovely place except for one thing....you have to be able to speak French.

French Rugby fearmungering, how about some facts!!!

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