Prem Rugby Chiefs Admit Challenge Competing with Top 14 Under Salary Cap
Prem Rugby chiefs have admitted that competing with the French Top 14 has been “challenging” given the constraints of the English salary cap system. Clubs in England are currently limited to spending around £8 million per season on their squads, with £6.4 million representing the standard cap and the remainder coming from credits and allowances. In contrast, the French Top 14 is set to increase its salary cap to approximately £9.5 million next season. This disparity is often cited as a key reason why English clubs have struggled to win the Investec Champions Cup in recent years, with Exeter Chiefs being the last English side to triumph in 2020.
Salary Cap Director Speaks at Sports Resolutions Conference
Speaking at the Sports Resolutions conference in London this week, Prem Rugby’s salary cap director, Andrew Rogers, highlighted the difficulties. “Trying to compete with the French Top 14, it [the cap] has been quite prohibitive. It’s a challenge, the market,” Rogers said. He noted that France offers a higher salary cap and a different tax structure, where players may only pay tax on 70 per cent of their income in the first year. Similarly, Ireland provides a 40 per cent tax rebate on all tax paid over the last 10 years upon retirement after a decade of service. “So there are benefits in other unions and other jurisdictions. We know there’s a difference in semantics between competitive and success, but we are competitive in the European competitions, and that’s important,” Rogers added.
Positive Changes: Relegation Scrapped and Salary Floor Introduced
Rogers also discussed recent positive developments in English rugby. The relegation system has been scrapped from the Premiership, a move he believes has spurred a wave of investment. Energy drinks giant Red Bull has invested in Newcastle, while vacuum cleaner magnate Sir James Dyson has backed Bath. US investors are also circling Exeter Chiefs. This investment has trickled down to the second-tier Championship, where Cornish Pirates have received a cash injection from across the Atlantic. Next year, the Premiership will introduce a salary cap floor, forcing teams to narrow the spending gap. “We’ve gone through a lot of challenges recently,” Rogers said. “We’ve just removed relegation from the Prem, and that’s already showing positives with investment… We’re also introducing a salary floor for next year to keep the league competitive. So actually, we’re on a far more positive trajectory than we had been coming out of Covid.”
