Premiership’s richest club Bristol Bears’ spending to fall well short of salary cap
Pat Lam has said Bristol have a ‘really exciting group’ of players coming through – Getty Images/Bob Bradford
Bristol Bears will be well under the increased Premiership salary cap ceiling next season despite the riches of Steve Lansdown, their billionaire owner, because of a forecast reduction in central funding to follow the new broadcast deal.
Pat Lam will bid farewell to 17 players over the summer, including Kyle Sinckler, as part of what he called a “re-setting” process that will lean on experienced leaders such as Ellis Genge, Steven Lutatua and AJ MacGinty to guide a relatively young group.
Lam explained that a 10-team league has left him unable to assure players of game-time. However, another factor has been the renewed broadcast deal with TNT Sports. As things stand, it is expected that clubs will be around £1 million worse off from television money over the next two seasons, with a view to a more lucrative, longer-term broadcast deal being secured after that period.
The shortfall will be offset by enhanced support from the Rugby Football Union as part of the new professional game partnership, as revealed by Telegraph Sport last month, but Lam said that Bristol, historically regarded as big-spenders in the days of Charles Piutau and Semi Radradra, have reassessed and plan to be some way short of the £6.4 million salary cap.
“We’ve got a really exciting group coming through and we’re definitely going to be a smaller squad,” Lam explained on Tuesday. “We won’t spend to the cap either. At the moment, I don’t think we’re going to be up to £5 million – and that’s fine.”
Lam labelled the approach as one of consolidation, stressing that Lansdown was still willing to commit funds.
“There’s no doubt Steve could put more money in if he wanted to, buy why would you?” Lam said. “The product is really good, but the other side has to pick up as well. If anything, the money that he committed to us is still there. It hasn’t changed. The same amount. What has happened is that it’s the other side that has fallen down – the TV deal. Every club is going to feel it.
“I believe Steve is testing us; saying ‘can you run the club properly?’ We’ve been doing that now. It just makes us get everything in order. We’re consolidating when, sure, he could add more money to it. Remember, this decision was made when news of this deal came around Christmas time. If anything. it’s sharpened our focus to make sure it’s not about the individuals, it’s about the right people to play as a team, the right people in the organisation to be efficient and purposeful, and get your jobs done really well.
“We’ve got too much fat on all the different edges – and we’re no different to the other hundreds of businesses Steve has, or is looking to invest in. That’s why he’s very successful in what he does. I’ve found it really liberating working with Gavin Marshall [Bristol Sport CEO] and Tom Tainton [Bears COO], to work it through. It’s a great exercise for us.”
Over-reliance on a single benefactor has been shown to be fraught with danger and Bristol are evidently eager to avoid that; or at least to work towards a more sustainable approach.
“Sometimes it is ‘oh this’ll be ok as Steve will put money in’,” Lam continued. “He looked after us very well in Covid, and now it’s our turn to make sure that we look after his investment. I think we’ve shown in the last 10-11 weeks, we’re making huge improvements. That will continue next year.
“It has made us look at recruitment, bringing in the right people, let’s look at some gems. We’ve proven ourselves to be able to find gems in the Championship and in BUCS [British Universities and Colleges Sport] – guys who are hungry.”
The decision to raise the salary cap from £5 million to £6.4 million for the 2024-25 campaign has divided the Premiership. While some clubs have voiced opposition, Rob Baxter, the Exeter Chiefs director of rugby, outlined his support, even if his club will also be below the limit. Lam, used to skinnier budgets from his time at Connacht, insisted that clubs would need to be disciplined.
“Put [the cap] at £10 million; it doesn’t mean we’re going to go to it,” he said. “The onus is on financial directors. Where I used to work I would say ‘can I get this?’ and they went ‘no we don’t have that money’ or ‘yes you can, but this is all you’ve got’, rather than ‘yeah buy that, we’ll find that money somewhere else’.
“All those clubs that went bust, I would look at the financial people, and the decision to spend money they didn’t have. Gambling. Put the cap at £10 million, and if a club wants to go there, sure, but most clubs won’t if they’re clever as they’ll go bust.
“We have a responsibility to make sure we make very good decisions to be a successful rugby club and work in the means we can afford. What that means is we, not Steve. Our goal from the beginning was to be less reliant on a financial backer. Steve has been brilliant for us, and we were tracking [well], which has earnt us the trust and reputation to look after us during the Covid time.
“Now we’re getting back it’s ‘let’s consolidate, look where we’re at’. Who knows what is around the corner so let’s focus on what we do, and be efficient in what we do and still try to be successful in what we do.”
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