France’s Top 14, the world’s richest rugby championship, suffered a record deficit of US$ 25.5 million last season, as player salaries soared.
In a recent report, it was found that clubs opted to boost their squads over cutting costs.
“Clubs prefer to strengthen their sporting power… to the detriment of reducing their deficits,” said a report by the National Rugby League’s audit department.
The Top 14 accounted for the bulk of a US$ 35.6 million deficit for all 30 professional clubs in France, which has become an increasing magnet for foreign stars.
Average player salaries have increased 12% in the past season, according to the report released Monday.
All Black Colin Slade is the latest foreign star to have signed for a French club, along with other pricey stars, such as Dan Carter.
Salaries have taken off while revenues grew only 10%, mainly through extra television income.
Only one Top 14 club is able to fully self-finance its operation, against 7 at the end of 2013 / 2014.
3 Clubs have are “heavily in deficit”. The league report did not name the clubs, but the Midi Olympique newspaper said they are Racing Metro, Stade Francais and Castres, where the owners pay for annual losses.
Top 14 attendances have also stagnated over the past 5 seasons, according to the league report. The average attendance last season was 13 538, up from 13 162 the previous season, but still below the peak of 14 032 in 2010 / 2011.
Bordeaux is the best supported club, with an average of more than 19 500 at each game.
The league named Brive and European champions Toulon as the only clubs that do not have a deficit.
Toulouse and Toulon were named as the French clubs with the biggest budget.
rugby365
Amazing that France supports 30 professional clubs, whereas South Africa cannot support 14…
grootblousmile wrote:
I think a lot of French clubs are owned by rich guys, the clubs themselves don’t make that much money
I used to work with a French intern form Toulouse. He hated Toulon, he said it’s a synthetic club created by a rich guy with lots of money whereas Toulouse was an old club with a rich rugby history
2 @ Victoriabok:
Mourad Boujellal, owner of Toulon, is a Comics Tycoon… a Billionaire… so a puny little deficit won’t bug him.
A number of the other big clubs are the same… rich owners and buying players left, right and center.
The combined player income of the total Border Rugby Union players list is not more than Mourad pays his lowest salaried Top 14 squad member…
@ grootblousmile:
And probably not the combined IQ either
BrumbiesBoy wrote:
Are you talking about players or administrators? 😛
If you’re referring to the latter you need a lot more of them to get the combined IQ up
And don’t even think to add Frans and Barend
Or Naka for that matter
It ain’t gonna help squat 😈
@ grootblousmile:
Het jy die post gesien met die link van die meisie wat draf?
Dis ‘n gesonde fikse meisie nê?
grootblousmile wrote:
I’ve read a lot of the English clubs are the same too
It explained a lot, I couldn’t understand how they can afford to pay our players so much while they don’t even have a proper field with real stands
Some of them have kakker stands than Affies or the other top schools
7 @ Victoriabok:
s too!
And probably kakker Poppie
Oops, finger trouble 😳
BrumbiesBoy wrote:
You shouldn’t have finger trouble with the poppies 😈
BrumbiesBoy wrote:
Like this one?
http://www.i.imgur.com/55YEbqU.gifv
3 @ grootblousmile:
Toulon is one of the clubs in the black though… so they are not causing the deficit.
11 @ Victoriabok:
Eish, my sister’s gonna wonder where you got hold of that video…
BrumbiesBoy wrote:
Is dit jou Sussie?
Noem my dan sommer Swaer
@ Victoriabok:
Goed so!
BrumbiesBoy wrote:
Ek sal vir jou ‘n paar gewillige skape gee vir lobola, 😈 na aanleiding van jou naam
Jy kan vir ons ‘n Victoria’s Secret DD Gift Voucher vir ‘n trougeskenk gee 😆
6 @ Victoriabok:
Ek stem heelhartig… of is dit nou rondborstig met jou saam!
Maar onthou net, meer as ‘n goeie gesonde mondvol is ‘n mors…
Ons is AL WEER in donkerte gehul… dankie Eksdom!
BrumbiesBoy wrote:
Ja Boet
16 @ Victoriabok:
19 @ Victoriabok:
Call Back the Past!
Gotta run now Swaer, back later after I’ve got home & charged up (if Eksdom hasn’t plunged us into darkness)
grootblousmile wrote:
Groot is lekker
Jy kan jou gesig tussen hulle sit en sê Brrrrrr
So gepraat van LIGTE AFSKAKEL… ek het vandag besluit basta met donners wat my geld skuld (OK dit was maar net R 6 200.00 so dit was nou nie juis einde van die wêreld nie), toe laat weet ek hulle as my geld nie in my rekening wys teen 10:45 nie, skakel ek hulle E-Mails en Website af… tot die geld wys.
Ou bel my so ewe verergd en sê ek moet maar doen wat ek goeddink, want hy gaan my eers einde van die maand betaal.
Nou kyk, ek weier nie maklik ‘n uitnodiging om te doen wat ek goeddink nie… en ek sny hulle toe af, Geel Kaart – Suspended!!
10 Minute later toe kry ek bewys van inbetaling…. hehehe
There’s actually quite a bit of Rugby News I wanted to put up… will have to wait till the Power comes on again!
grootblousmile wrote:
Sit jy nou in die donker?
Lyk my julle het die week meer beurtkrag as van tevore?
Welcome to the future
25 @ Victoriabok:
Dissie eers NOU ons beurt om beurtkrag te hê nie!!
Yip, stip giet nag donker!!
Ek heg hierby aan ons beurtkrag skedule… check bietjie, ons is die BLOU Blokkies!
Hulle bedonner ons nou so 2 keer PER DAG met beurtkrag!
Attachment: Loadshedding-Shedule-April-2015.pdf
@ grootblousmile:
Farkit, it looks like the seating plan for a concert
Like a Simon and Garfunkel?
“Hello darkness my old friend”
Or maybe and Elton John concert?
“like a candle in the wind”
We’ve had a few here when they worked on the powerlines, and the one time when a car crashed into a tree and it fell on the line and the other when the snow broke a branch and it took the line out on the way down
But they fixed in in less than three hours
Power outages are very serious here especially in the colder parts, as your house can freeze and you too if it’s off long enough and it’s like -20C
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