BY ROSS HEPPENSTALL
After several weeks of trying, rugby league finally got the financial support from Government it so desperately craved since the coronavirus pandemic forced the season to be suspended over a month ago.
On Thursday at midnight, it was officially announced that the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport had granted the Rugby Football League a £16million cash injection.
The DCMS said the move was designed to “safeguard the immediate future of the sport for the communities it serves.”
They added in their statement: “The emergency loan will help the sport deal with the extreme financial impact of the coronavirus outbreak while the season remains suspended, due to social distancing measures.”
As is often the case in rugby league, there is always a subtext.
You have to read between the lines and those clubs who had hoped for a cash grant were left disappointed.
The money they are given will have to be repaid and, because it is being administered through the UK Government, French clubs Catalans Dragons and Toulouse Olympique will not be eligible to apply.
Nor will Toronto Wolfpack, the Super League club who already have to make do without any central funding from the RFL.
Still, £16million is £16million and the fund, the first awarded to any sport by the Government since the global health crisis unfolded, promises to keep alive a number of clubs throughout Super League, Championship and League 1.
Ralph Rimmer, whose work as RFL chief executive in working with the DCMS in securing the loan has won him much respect throughout the game, spoke to the media on Friday morning.
Several club owners at all levels had warned about the potential dire consequences facing them if financial support was not forthcoming.
“I won’t name individual clubs, but it’s realistic to say we’re not a wealthy sport with a string of wealthy ownerships, so as you’d expected many of the clubs have been under extreme pressure,” said Rimmer.
“The Government intervention is very welcome and the level of engagement I’ve had with Government over the last six weeks has been extraordinary.
“It is timely and will certainly help us reshape and re-emerge, and the sport will undoubtedly benefit from that support.”
Rimmer refused to divulge the details of how the loan would be operated with clubs, saying: “I won’t go directly into the terms of the loan but we will use it as wisely as we possibly can.”
Significantly, he admitted it the state support was heavily linked to next year’s Rugby League World Cup, which will be staged in England.
He also conceded the fund would be utilised by the RFL themselves, with the governing body facing a major financial shortfall if, as expected, the three-match Ashes Test series between England and Australia, scheduled for this autumn, is cancelled.
“Of course there is a relationship between us (the RFL) and the World Cup, and that’s all money towards the sport,” said Rimmer.
“The World Cup is massively significant to the Government and that rhetoric has undoubtedly been important.
“There is no doubting that the strengthening of the nation’s psyche will be bolstered by the re-emergence of sport and the good feeling it brings.
“The World Cup is on the horizon but as far as the terms of the loan are concerned, I won’t go into any great detail on that.
“Nevertheless, we have some responsibilities in this and you would expect the Government to show good stewardship over any money.
“There is an unbelievable amount of pressure on Government at this moment in time not only to support other sports and other organisations, so it’s only right and proper that they put some conditions on any monies that flow from them. And that’s fine.”
The £16million will be used ostensibly to aid the three professional leagues and not the community game.
Rimmer said the needs of the amateur ranks had “been satisfied” through separate interventions via Sport England and hardship funds made available to community clubs.
Rimmer added: “We know the professional clubs intimately because we speak to them almost every day, so we understand where the interventions will be required.
“We have put a fairly robust formula in place and clubs will have to apply for funds.
“We will audit that stringently in order that the funds are used properly. We, in turn, will be audited by Government which again, is just reasonable stewardship.”
While many within the game breathed a sigh of relief at clubs having access to loan at a time of crisis, the fight for survival will continue.
Nobody knows when or indeed if the 2020 season will resume and games behind closed doors appear a near certainty should the campaign be allowed to restart.
“We have to make it last as long as we can,” said Rimmer of the £16million bailout.
“All the professional clubs took some fairly drastic measures (pay cuts, furloughing of staff and players) in order to cut their cloth when the lockdown began.
“None of those measures should be considered to be backtracked and we have to reshape for the future going forward.
“It’s all about making ourselves fit for the future and it’s certainly not about landing a lump sum in the bank account of each club and saying ‘crack on with the way you are going’.
“We have to be far more meticulous and have to make sure the money is used wisely to ensure we are sustainable in the future.”
Could the RFL potentially return to Government for further financial assistance?
“Our dialogue with the Government will undoubtedly continue,” said Rimmer.
“Over the past few weeks, I’ve probably been on the phone to them six or seven times a day and in doing that we have developed a partnership.
“They understand what we bring into our communities and the dialogue with them will continue, which I’m very grateful for.”
The loan was not something that came easily and Rimmer revealed there were “innumerable hurdles” to negotiate before it was granted.
“Right at the start, the DCMS made it clear that there was a high possibility that we were going to be unlucky; that we were going to fail in this,” said the Cumbrian.
“But the Rugby League Dividend, delivered by Manchester Metropolitan University and commissioned 18 months ago, has been an invaluable piece of work and demonstrated how important we are to those communities.”
Rimmer confirmed that the overseas clubs were originally part of the support package but were then “taken from the equation” and “won’t benefit from these monies”.
North Wales Crusaders and West Wales Raiders clearly fall outside of “English clubs” but Rimmer said of the League 1 sides: “There will be a conversation with regards to the Welsh clubs because there is a devolved power in relation to sport.”
“How many clubs will apply for this funding? All the clubs have very different business models and some have benefited from the interventions that Government have already made.
“There will be some that require far more support than others. We have a real responsibility to use it widely and hopefully, when we start playing games again, we can celebrate the sport.
“It’s our 125th year and I’ve no ambition to whimper into the end of 2020.
“I want us to punch the air and say ‘this is exactly what we’ve missed.”
It will be interesting to see which Super League clubs apply for a loan, especially those with wealthy owners.
The money will have to be repaid at some point and will be used primarily to assist the cash flows of club starved of matchday income for well over a month now.
“This is absolutely no gravy train,” stressed Rimmer.
“We will use it wisely and to steer ourselves into a better place. That management, that stewardship, falls on our shoulders.”
The amount awarded to each club will be in line with their financial needs and applications will be met with a strict due diligence.
Beyond the headlines of a £16million cash injection into the game is a bigger picture.
Two years ago, Super League clubs broke away from the RFL in a bid to increase revenues with the current television deal with Sky up for renewal next year.
The split sparked a civil war and saw Leeds Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington as the lone voice in stressing that the game was not big enough to support essentially separate organisations.
Now, however, the coronavirus pandemic has left many clubs strapped for cash and raised the prospect of the Super League board being scrapped.
Rimmer’s work has earned him public praise from several top-flight club chairmen and he has yet to comment on the prospect of yet another restructure.
His biggest concern right now is administering the loan money to clubs who need it most and finding a solution to restarting the season.
He dismissed any comparisons with Premier League football and the challenges that competition is experiencing right now.
Rimmer said: “I don’t think you should put is in the same sentence – they are light years away from the figures we are discussing.
“We’re a working-class sport and I don’t think we register on the same radar.
“As far as playing goes, we’ve been speaking to Government, along with the other big sports, about how we re-emerge.
“Behind closed doors is an option, of course it is, but it won’t suit every club because many are reliant on ticket revenue.
“The period of lockdown, which in the end will be dictated by the Government, will determine which model we take.
“We understand that football may go ahead with slightly different criteria to us but we are a high-contact collision sport and all that detail is being worked through.
“Clearly we want to get on the football as soon as possible. As I said, part of the recovery of the nation’s psyche is about seeing sport and we have a responsibility to deliver it.
“We do have models to suit every eventuality and it’s really important that we try and maintain our blue-ribbon events.”
Magic Weekend, scheduled for later this month in Newcastle, has already been postponed and the Ashes could be scrapped altogether.
That has put added pressure on ensuring the season is restarted so the Challenge Cup final and Super League Grand Final are played.
Rimmer, who admitted player welfare would come into the governing body’s thinking over the scheduling of fixtures when the season relaunches, says the relationship with Sky remains strong.
The current deal expires next year and rugby league needs to keep the broadcaster happy to ensure they deliver on the existing contract.
“Certainly the possibility of playing multiple games at a single venue is an option in how we re-emerge in the first instance” said Rimmer, who admitted the Ashes series was under serious threat.
On the potential impact of the Government loan on the RFL’s own finances, Rimmer acknowledged: “You’re absolutely right to point out that all the blue ribbon events, at this moment in time, haven’t been played.
“The RFL would have generated some revenues through the Challenge Cup final and the Ashes series at the end of the year.
“We will have to see how the season pans out and we would certainly hope that all those events still take place.
“But nevertheless we have some comfort if there is any disruption to them. I can’t thank the Government for what they have done.
“The level of engagement has been outstanding at every level and this rugby league family of ours has mobilised itself to evidence the importance of what our clubs do.
“It’s a real pat on the back for the rugby league family and we have to make sure we use those resources wisely going forward.
“The solution at the end of this will not be a perfect one. It just won’t be, but everyone has to come to the table to make it work.”