Will the Blues lose their Central Funding?

With the Blues boss stating they will no longer pay Welsh players when absent on international duty, should they lose the money paid by the WRU? After all this is primarily to provide compensation for releasing players to the national cause.

Of course this then brings up the whole issue of introducing central contracts - which may not actually be to the National teams interests. The budget for central contracts can only stretch so far - and so only a limited number of players will be contracted. Ensuring those players get sufficient gametime to be in-form, yet sufficient rest to also be at their peak runs counter to a club/region to build a competitive team, especially as there would no longer be the carrot of central funding. Calling up non-contracted players would become more problematic as well.


I guess the easiest solution would be for the WRU to become the owners of the regions - but could they afford that?

I guess the easiest solution would be for the WRU to become the owners of the regions - but could they afford that?

No chance! They partly fund each region now and they are reviewing the current funding model due to lack of finance. (well so they say, but the WRU are making decent profits). It's going to be interesting and probably hard times for the regions over the next few years I think.

No, the WRU couldn't afford to take over and Wales need money men like Peter Thomas who have been propping up the game for years.

To clarify, it is compensation and not funding.
I could be wrong, but I now understand that the £1.5m ish that each of the 4 sides receive covers everything outside the official IRB windows ie the extra AI, Gatlands 13 day rule, a summer international plus other stuff. Supposedly the compo doesn't cover anything inside the official IRB windows, so if that's the case then it could be argued that the WRU need to chip in.
On the other hand, if more of the Welsh players leave Wales then it could also be argued that since the regions would be supplying less then the WRU should pay less.

To answer the question in the thread title; i've no idea.
Whatever happens, it needs sorting and it's probably going to be messy.

Thanks gents. Yes it could be messy.

Next question - with the size of the MS attendances and the ticket prices, how come the WRU is short of cash?

Now a cheeky one - Is the lack of funds why Gatland mentioned fining players for getting yellow cards?

LondonTiger wrote:Thanks gents. Yes it could be messy.

Next question - with the size of the MS attendances and the ticket prices, how come the WRU is short of cash?

Now a cheeky one - Is the lack of funds why Gatland mentioned fining players for getting yellow cards?

The WRU still have a huge stadium debt to service which stands at around £25m I believe, so that is probably their priority.

Gatland thinking out loud I reckon, but Bradley Davies deserves to be fined the dull sod. There again he's losing out on appearance money, so I would imagine that's punishment enough.

Yeah the WRU are slowly paying off their debt so not all the profit they make can go directly back into the game. Is it really £25m I thought it was less than that?

25m is about right. They've managed to bring it down a heck of a lot. They think they'll be debt free around 2020!

Just to add that some of the money is actually owed to the regions anyway, as I understand it. The regions don't get their TV money direct. It all goes to the WRU (so that's BBC, Sky and S4C money) and they WRU splits it 4 ways. You could argue that the Dragons do well out of this as they're not in the HC, but most of their Amlin games were televised on Sky so it wouldn't be too much less.

So, the money they receive from the WRU is not just a handout/compensation but also money that they're entitled to and which other clubs get direct.

LondonTiger wrote:Thanks gents. Yes it could be messy.

Next question - with the size of the MS attendances and the ticket prices, how come the WRU is short of cash?

Now a cheeky one - Is the lack of funds why Gatland mentioned fining players for getting yellow cards?

To be honest each home game generates about £3m, but split between running the national game it does not go very far.

The stadium alone costs about £4.5m a season to maintain, the regions get about £14m between them (£3.5m each), the Welsh premiership sides get £1.2m between them (12 teams x £100,000 each), and the rest of the community clubs share about £3m. The Welsh team costs £4m a year to run.
Throw in a lot of WRU employees (180+) and you can see why finances are stretched!

There is a few million profit each season the WRU makes, but they have made noises about starting up and financing a North Wales team. Pontypridd have also been throwing their toys out of the pram and putting pressure on the WRU for a valleys side. I think the regions are making a play for that cash to be honest. This happens every season, the WRU and regions sign a new deal and 1 side breaks the agreement when convenient. The WRU broke it last season, and the regions are this year.
The truth is nobody important has left Welsh rugby this or last season. Mike Phillips left, and Rhys Webb took his place. Dwayne Peel goes to Sale, and the Scarlets bring through Tavis Knoyle. James Hook goes and we find Matthew Morgan.
When one leaves another gets their chance, all it means is these Welsh players are taking oppertunities away from young English and French players, which will help us to be honest.

http://www.wru.co.uk/downloads/WRU_ARA_2011_Final.pdf

For those that are interested in the 2011 WRU accounts, click the link above.

Look at the bottom right of the page, and on page 15, it tells you what amounts of money each area of Welsh rugby gets. It even tells you later on they have 180+ employees.

The regions get 6m between them

gowales wrote:The regions get 6m between them

Then I suggest you tell the tax man, because using the WRU own finances they clearly state that the regions get:

Allocations to affiliates
- Regions (Professional) £15.0m
- Clubs (Semi - professional) £1.2m
- Community rugby £3.1m

£15,000,000 divided by 4 regions = £3,750,000 per team.
Oddly enough the Wage cap is now £3,500,000 too, so by the time you factor in coaches, and costs etc, you are probably about right.

This says differently

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/sport-news/rugby-news/2011/12/21/welsh-regions-to-introduce-salary-cap-55578-29986708/

AlynDavies wrote:

gowales wrote:The regions get 6m between them

Then I suggest you tell the tax man, because using the WRU own finances they clearly state that the regions get:

Allocations to affiliates
- Regions (Professional) £15.0m
- Clubs (Semi - professional) £1.2m
- Community rugby £3.1m

£15,000,000 divided by 4 regions = £3,750,000 per team.
Oddly enough the Wage cap is now £3,500,000 too, so by the time you factor in coaches, and costs etc, you are probably about right.

Looks like gowales is referring to the £6m (£1.5m each) from the WRU and not the tv cash etc which bumps up the total to £15m.
So in total as you say, around £3.75m each.

The WRU hands over £15m to the regions.

However only £6m of that is directly out of their pocket. The balance of £9m just washes through the WRU as it is money from the TV companies, Heineken etc.

Because there are negotiated at this level that's why the money goes to the union first. It does all however get handed over. So the direct cost to the WRU is the £6m.