How are England clubs funded,what is relevance of Salary Cap,does RFU contribute to them?

A simple question,who owns the clubs,is it like Top14,indvidual owners? a collective?whatever?
What is the Salary Cap is it so ALL clubs are equally funded?to buy overseas players?protect
there players from going abroad.
To what extent is the RFU are there grants for things like surface improvements,
number of non -England players eligible etc.
What exactly is the RFU financed by involving the England team.what limitations
effect that side.i.e Non resident players being picked for England is THERE policy.
Marketing ,shirts,mascots,tv rights,match selection,cuts of RWC,Media rights etc.
Bad boys policy is it a RFU,or a TEAM matter or both,do they have any say over
selection policy?

Could you not just research this yourself?

Club ownership varies. Salary cap information is easily available on the Premiership website. For everything else you're better off contacting the RFU.

I went on the premier site about salary cap and it was all in doublespeak,not plain English.

Some clubs are privately owned by wealthy individuals while a club like Leicester is an unlisted PLC, with seniors executives holding major stakes alongside Tigers supporters.

All cubs can spend up to the salary cap but not all have the resources to do so. An owner like Craig can afford to run Bath at a deficit while other clubs can only pay up if they have sufficient revenue to do so.

Revenue for clubs comes from ticket sales, ground hire (if they own their ground), hospitality, merchandise and sponsorship. They also get TV broadcasting money for the Premiership and European Cup. The RFU pays Aviva clubs for access to England squad players outside the international window. They also offer cash to clubs who field a certain number of English-qualified players in their match day squads.

The relationship between clubs and RFU is basically defined by the "EPS" Agreement (Elite Player Squad), not to be confused with another EPS Agreement, which is basically the employment contract between RFU and players when on international duty.

PRL (Premier Rugby Limited) is the umbrella company of the clubs, owned by them through various shareholdings which give different voting rights, financial distributions and other stuff lost in history. Through PRL, clubs vote on policy and receive the central income dosh from TV, league sponsorship, RFU (see "EPS") and European central distribution.

Following is the press release for the current "EPS" which is 8 years old and due for renewal about now (which could be interesting). It has evolved a fair bit over the years.

Thursday 15 November 2007

RFU/PRL Joint Press Release
RFU and PRL sign new eight year agreement

· New Agreement from 1st July 2008
· Long term Agreement in place for 2 World Cups
· Provides foundation for further England team success
· Develops strength of Guinness Premiership
· RFU will provide around £110 million to the Guinness Premiership clubs
· Professional Game Board created to oversee the professional game

The RFU and Premier Rugby Ltd (“ PRL ”) are pleased to announce they have signed a new Agreement (the “Agreement”) which will govern the professional game in England from 1 July 2008 until 30 June 2016 .

The Agreement follows a long period of negotiation between the RFU and PRL covering all aspects of Professional Rugby in England with the aim of building on England ’s position as one of the leaders of the game at both club and country level while creating a long term structure for continued success.

The Agreement covers the following core areas:


Ø Season Structure
Ø Elite Player Squads and the Player Management Programme
Ø Academies
Ø An England Qualified Players compensation scheme
Ø Player Welfare & the PRA
Ø EPS Player Agreement, Match Fees & IP Rights
Ø First Division Rugby
Ø Governance
Ø Commercial
Ø The European Rugby Cup
Ø Finance and Funding matters

The Agreement will come into full force and effect from July 2008 and will replace the current “Long Form Agreement” (LFA), which governs the game until the end of the 2007-8 season.

The Agreement provides for the creation of 3 Elite Player Squads (EPS); Senior, Saxons and U20 each of 32 players. An Elite Player Management Programme will be set at the beginning of each season for each Senior EPS player by the Elite Rugby Director and the England Head Coach following discussion and consultation with the club Director of Rugby. The Annual Player Programme for each Saxons EPS player will be discussed and agreed between the RFU Elite Rugby Director and each club Director of Rugby. The Annual Player Programme for each U20 EPS player will be drawn up by the club Academy Manager for the approval of the RFU Director of the National Academy . PRL and each of its clubs will be responsible for ensuring full implementation of the Elite Player Management Programmes. The England team coaches and RFU National Academy coaches will have access to and regular contact with all Senior EPS players to provide and deliver programme support in respect of the individual Elite Player Management Programmes.

A Medical Protocol has been agreed for the Senior EPS to ensure that each player is in optimal physical condition and health at all times.

To improve the preparation for England matches, all Senior EPS players will be released 13 or 14 days before the start of the autumn internationals and RBS 6 Nations and for the duration of both international windows. There will also be a minimum 2 weeks preparation for the Senior EPS players prior to each summer tour on which England will take their strongest available squad.

The agreement has detailed provisions for the Saxons EPS, U20 EPS and the operation of the Regional Academies.

In return, the RFU has agreed to pay PRL clubs £102 million over the course of the agreement plus a share of the net revenues from a fourth Autumn International every other year which should take the total RFU payment for PRL Clubs to around £110m over the period of the agreement. Clubs will only receive payment under the Agreement by having players in one or more of the 3 EPS squads and/or through compensation payments under the EQP scheme and/or by running an RFU licensed Academy.

As part of the Agreement, PRL shall be solely responsible for negotiating the sale of their own TV, media & Sponsorship rights and giving directions to ERC in respect of England ’s position on the sale of the TV, media and sponsorship rights related to the European Rugby Cup and European Challenge Cup.

The deal sees the creation of a Professional Game Board (PGB) to oversee the new Agreement. The PGB has detailed terms of reference and decision-making powers. These are contained in the Notes at the end of the press release.

Francis Baron OBE, Chief Executive of the RFU commented:

“I am very pleased to have negotiated this agreement with PRL. It has taken a considerable amount of time, but it was vital to get it right and seek to resolve once and for all the issues that have caused ‘club v country’ conflict through a long term agreement that is right for the game as a whole. Our aim has been to produce the most comprehensive and detailed agreement covering the professional game that has been drawn up anywhere in the world.

“We believe we have done that: we have secured an agreement which both gives the national side the strongest platform it has ever had to maintain and build on its success, while maintaining the integrity of our excellent club game. This agreement is in the interests of everyone involved in the game.

“The agreement meets the RFU’s key objectives for the future of the professional game: it protects the safety and welfare of players; it secures the financial viability of the game and will increase participation at all levels. This is a truly exciting period for English rugby.”

Mark McCafferty, Chief Executive of PRL commented:

“The agreement provides a good balance between what England needs to build on its success and what the clubs need to continue the rapid growth of the professional club game. It protects and develops the Guinness Premiership, the most competitive league in the world and supports the continuing success of our clubs in Europe . Both are the foundations for international success.

“In addition to the monies being paid by the RFU, it was essential for Premier Rugby and its clubs to secure the full financial potential of their commercial rights in their leading competitions.

“The real work now lies ahead of us to translate this agreement into sporting success and inspiration for those involved in the Game at every level.”

Rob Andrew, Elite Rugby Director commented:

"A lot of people in the RFU, PRL and the PRA have worked very hard on this deal. It ' s the first time we have reached an agreement, which is a sustainable English solution for the English game, since the game went professional in 1995 and everyone should be congratulated on that. I think it ' s the first time that all the parties have fully understood the issues and this is one of the most significant agreements that has been reached in the last ten to twelve years. It provides a great platform for the English club and the national game and will strengthen the excellent work that has already taken place in the Guinness Premiership, the clubs participation in the Heineken Cup and with England , after successive appearances in the final of the RWC."

Thank you all concerned

Apparently sarries are funded by satan, and all players are evil sub-humans

No, just cheats

Knackeredknees wrote:Apparently sarries are funded by satan, and all players are evil sub-humans

Nah that's not true, we all quite like Itoje