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I thought at the time it was incredible that they bought what was then the Ricoh stadium for £35 million. It has 28,000 seated capacity, a hotel and a casino. The revenue from the hotel and casino probably completely dried up during COVID which has probably contributed to their problems.
If they cannot meet their commitments to bond holders, will they be declared bankrupt and if so would Premiership Rugby relegate them?

Isn't that what happened with London Welsh a while back....bankrupt and chucked out of the leagues?
Hope it doesn't come to that....always liked Wasps...apart from Jimmy Gopperth when he got that last kick!!!

Quote:

Lowerwatha
I thought at the time it was incredible that they bought what was then the Ricoh stadium for £35 million. It has 28,000 seated capacity, a hotel and a casino. The revenue from the hotel and casino probably completely dried up during COVID which has probably contributed to their problems.
If they cannot meet their commitments to bond holders, will they be declared bankrupt and if so would Premiership Rugby relegate them?

32600 capacity... of which about 28000 can still be seen when Wasps are at home.

There was always talk of a lack of money pre-covid, of course Covid won't have helped matters, but the talk was there before.

Quote:

Thomas Hawk
There was always talk of a lack of money pre-covid, of course Covid won't have helped matters, but the talk was there before.

Lack of money? They made a loss of 9.7m in 2018, and in the final six months of 2019 they reported a loss of 4.99m following the CVC payment during the first half of the year which helped them show a profit.
Covid wasn't a factor at that point, and indeed they themselves cited 'sporting' issues.
It's unsustainable. Simple as that.

Shame for the fans and it will not get any easier with the economy on a downward turn,price hikes in all directions fuel,etc the list goes on. Cant see much to get excited about and rugby like all sports will suffer.

A further delay in repaying bond holders according to a Wasps statement in Rugby Pass this morning!

It's the players who will carry a large part of the damage if they can't pay the bills, they're not going to find another club this year now are they? Wuss could also be in a similar boat if they are still struggling for cash to pay the wages.

it shows the folly of having 2 marquee players, the outgoings did not match the incomings

Wasps apparently now in some danger of being sued by Coventry City for not providing a suitable playing surface. Wasps promised a new playing surface to be installed over the summer but did not fulfill.
Also bland assurances from Derek Richardson over repaying Bonds. The club seem to be loss making on an on-going basis and need a sugar daddy with a very large wallet!

Worrying times for thei players and supporters!

Being reported they've sold less than 2000 season tickets, fans voting with their feet?

Quote:

tigerburnie
Being reported they've sold less than 2000 season tickets, fans voting with their feet?

Maybe they don't want to spend hundreds on a ST, then find the club goes into administration and other people/businesses are ahead in the queue for return of money.

If your club was in a mess, like during lockdown, you'd help, a lot of folk left their season ticket money with the Tigers to help out, even though they could not attend the games. But as Wasps supporters have divi'd up once and got burnt, perhaps once stung twice shy.

More bad news for Wasps and RU in general from the Tele this evening,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Wasps are being pursued by HM Revenue & Customs over an unpaid tax bill.

After Telegraph Sport revealed Worcester Warriors had been hit by a winding-up petition from HMRC, their Midlands rivals were said to be another Premiership club being chased by the taxman.

Their chief executive, Stephen Vaughan, did not respond to repeated requests for comment, while HMRC declined to comment.

Unlike Worcester, HMRC is not currently seeking the liquidation of Wasps, whose owner, Derek Richardson, was forced to deny last week that the club was to enter administration amid suggestions to that effect on social media.

No Premiership club has gone bankrupt since 1999 but the coronavirus pandemic left some on the brink, with a Government bailout worth tens of millions of pounds seemingly not enough to ensure their survival.

Fears over Wasps’s future were raised in May after they announced a delay in repaying those to have invested in a £35 million bond scheme that helped bankroll their 2014 purchase of a 250-year lease on the Coventry Building Society Arena.

Those concerns were compounded the following month when they requested £13 million in public money from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to help pay stadium costs.

The most recent set of accounts for Wasps Holdings, covering the year ending June 2021, showed it recorded a loss of £18.5 million over a two-year period and had net current liabilities of £54.7 million.

The bondholder debt was initially secured against the value of the stadium, which the accounts valued at £52.4 million.

Wasps are the only Premiership club whose Companies House filings do not include notification of a charge being issued against them for taking out a multi-million-pound loan under the Government’s Covid-19 Sports Winter Survival Package.

But Telegraph Sport has been told they did borrow money under the scheme and that, like other teams, their loan is a secured one.

At the weekend, Telegraph Sport revealed Wasps were facing possible legal action from Coventry City after their Coventry Building Society Arena tenants were forced to postpone a second home match this season over an “unsafe and unplayable” pitch.

On Wednesday, both clubs announced “extensive work” would take place on the playing surface this week and that a “six-figure investment” would be made into pitch improvements amid the postponement of a third Coventry home game this Saturday.

WMCA told Telegraph Sport Wasps’s request for public money was still under consideration, while Coventry City Council, which owns to freehold to the arena, said: “The city council, including through the chief executive and senior officers, has regular communication and dialogue with many businesses and this has been particularly important throughout the pandemic as the economic context has been incredibly challenging.

“Wasps have been one of these businesses.”

Worcester on Thursday night remained in dialogue with HMRC over its own unpaid bill, having previously said: “The club owners and board are fully committed to preserving top-flight professional rugby in Worcester and have been working on solutions to secure the financial future of Worcester Warriors and to pay outstanding tax owed to HMRC.

“A solution, which would secure the long-term future of the club, has been approved. Unfortunately, there have been unavoidable delays beyond the club’s control to the final tasks required to complete the funding.

“Having kept HMRC fully apprised of the situation, we are disappointed that they have taken the decision to issue a winding-up petition.”

Terrible for the players. At present there are many mid ranking but good players apparently without clubs. The last thing rugby wants is Wuss and/or Wasps going bust. With inflation affecting all clubs, rising interest rates and fan's wages having trouble keeping up it looks like a very difficult time ahead for them both. At Chief's we made profits until Covid came along - times are still very challenging - nothing however that cannot be weathered - but a good season would really help our fanbase which like most grows with winning and falls away with losing over a season. I hope they did manage to sell a lot of season tickets even with the big hike.

The issue is that professional RU does not seem sustainable as currently constructed. We don't have the revenue streams of professional football at the highest level. What is the biggest expense of the Prem clubs? It must be players wages, which although nowhere near those of the top football stars, takes a great proportion of the overall turnover. So what is the answer. Top players are necessary to generate on field success, which in turn generates better revenues for the successful clubs.

Imho the blame for much of this lands at the feet of the RFU blazers who have mis managed/led rugby union for decades. They defunded the championship making it unviable and scaring away what investment and interest was growing in that area to feed the national team with inflated coaching wages and jollies.
We need a meaningful second tier, its why The French are flourishing. But now the money has dried up because of the RFUs past action and I cannot see how they can turn things around. The blazers will still live high of the hog but union is in a dire position and could collapse.

Quote:

clalan
Imho the blame for much of this lands at the feet of the RFU blazers who have mis managed/led rugby union for decades. They defunded the championship making it unviable and scaring away what investment and interest was growing in that area to feed the national team with inflated coaching wages and jollies.
We need a meaningful second tier, its why The French are flourishing. But now the money has dried up because of the RFUs past action and I cannot see how they can turn things around. The blazers will still live high of the hog but union is in a dire position and could collapse.

Agreed. These are my concerns too.

In Rob we trust.
By the way - cream on first. There's nothing to debate.

Quote:

Lowerwatha
I thought at the time it was incredible that they bought what was then the Ricoh stadium for £35 million. It has 28,000 seated capacity, a hotel and a casino. The revenue from the hotel and casino probably completely dried up during COVID which has probably contributed to their problems.
If they cannot meet their commitments to bond holders, will they be declared bankrupt and if so would Premiership Rugby relegate them?

In 2014 they paid £5.6 million to buy the management company and a further £1m for a 250 year lease.

In addition they took on the outstanding bank loan of £13m. The flotation of £35m was because Derek Richardson in addition wanted to be paid back a large proportion of his loans.

Ironically he ended up re-loaning the money. So Wasps owe £35m to bondholders, £18m to Richardson and also £7m I assume as a Covid Loan - and they have been averaging £10m losses a year

Quote:

Dehuminiser

Quote:

Lowerwatha
I thought at the time it was incredible that they bought what was then the Ricoh stadium for £35 million. It has 28,000 seated capacity, a hotel and a casino. The revenue from the hotel and casino probably completely dried up during COVID which has probably contributed to their problems.
If they cannot meet their commitments to bond holders, will they be declared bankrupt and if so would Premiership Rugby relegate them?

In 2014 they paid £5.6 million to buy the management company and a further £1m for a 250 year lease.

In addition they took on the outstanding bank loan of £13m. The flotation of £35m was because Derek Richardson in addition wanted to be paid back a large proportion of his loans.

Ironically he ended up re-loaning the money. So Wasps owe £35m to bondholders, £18m to Richardson and also £7m I assume as a Covid Loan - and they have been averaging £10m losses a year

So a fairly strong business model for the Premiership then.