Leicester Tigers have this morning issued the following update on club activities:
The Club’s commercial activities have felt the pandemic’s impact more than most Premiership Rugby clubs, given the size of its stadium and fan base. To date, the Club has missed out on approximately £5.0 million of revenues since it was last able to host matchdays or events at Welford Road.
The Board recognises and is grateful for the significant sacrifices made across the Club’s community to ensure a sustainable long-term financial footing for Tigers. Fans have kept season ticket money in the Club and sponsors have continued to be supportive.
Difficult decisions have had to be made, including salary reductions, reduced working time and using the furlough scheme as well as a redundancy process which concludes today and could potentially lead to the departure of up to 31 members of staff. In addition, a small number of players will leave Tigers to seek new opportunities elsewhere. We wish them well for the future.
JOIN THE RUCK:
The players were asked to accept reduced wages and, following feedback, we created a mechanism through which a proportion of forgone earnings could be reclaimed when the Club returns to profitability. At the same time, salaries of lower-paid players beginning their professional careers were protected. In common with other Club employees, these changes resulted from detailed explanations of the Club’s financial position and the necessity of the measures being taken.
Our focus throughout this crisis has been to put the Club first and to ensure the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of Tigers. The vast majority of players fully support our recovery plans and will be working with Geordan Murphy and Steve Borthwick on the way forward, beginning with the phased return to training and proposed resumption of the 2019/20 season.
Full list of rebels set to exit Leicester Tigers
Potential leavers:
Manu Tuilagi: The England centre is thought to earn around £500,000 a year as one of the best paid Premiership players. The Anglo-Samoan centre was the subject of a lucrative offer from French side Racing 92 early last year before deciding to stay.
Telusa Veainu: The New Zealand-born star has become a firm favourite with the Tigers faithful since joining the club from the Melbourne Rebels in October 2018. The Rugby Paper has reported that clubs in Japan and France are enquiring about him and offers have been made.