Re: Rugby League Gets Big Government Handout : Fri May 01, 2020 12:03 pm
bellycouldtackle wrote:
I don't understand how this is going to work. It is a loan so it will need to be repaid. The only money in the game comes from TV money and diectors loans to clubs, if directors call in their loans then most SL clubs would go bust. Without the TV money then its back t part time. The RFL lost money on last accounts and in a good year make just a few quid. SL Europe breaks even, so where will the money come from to repay the loan, only way I can see is if a percentage is taken from TV deal to repay the loan and the clubs have to cut budgets and survive on less
I'm presuming it's a case of looking at the alternative scenario. The repayments might be over many years, and there is a World Cup pending, which might go some way to repaying it.
Also, Sky TV might be offering something (I'm only speculating). At the moment, a lot of customers have paused their Sports subscription, and Sky have said it will resume as normal when sport does. Now, at the moment, we might be paying full subscriptions by May 28th, as the NRL is resuming. If we followed in June, we have live sport and Sky income goes up.
As for the clubs, I seem to remember that MC said we make about 60K every home game (or is it losing 60K for not staging them?). So, as a round figure, we'll be down around 700K on the season. But, staff are furloughed for a couple of months, so the loss will be less. And if played in empty stadiums, or on a triple-header basis without crowds, there are fewer suppliers to pay, so the loss comes down lower. And there maybe some way of streaming the games for a small fee, which will help.
So, in a nutshell, I'm speculating whether a club like Wakey might only need 500K of that 16 million just to end the season in the way that they would normally, in financial terms.
What we don't know, of course, is whether the liability for the loan is borne by the RFL, or whether the RFL then use it to extend credit terms to the clubs, so in fact the RFL sit on 16 million as a resource for any club that needs it, but of course it has to be repaid to the RFL. Will the RFL loan money to clubs, and repay the government through clubs repaying the loans, or will the RFL give money in terms of grants and the RFL finds its own way to repay it?
This is a long-winded way of saying that none of us really know much but those who know what they're talking about think it is crucial and a good thing, so hurrah!
