Attendances are high, but some English clubs are struggling with debt. Either way, the game is ripe for change according to Michael Aylwin in The Observer.
"Of all the blows Bristol have taken in the professional era, losing ownership of their ground in 1998 was the most damaging. Ground ownership is repeatedly highlighted as the most crucial edge a rugby club can hold at the current stage of professionalism. As Gorvett puts it, such clubs can run their businesses 365 days a year; Bristol can run theirs for only 15 matchdays a year.
"Those clubs who own their stadium are the ones generally felt to enjoy the best prospects, regardless of how well they are doing on the pitch. They are Leicester and Northampton, the only two who make annual profits whichever way you dress things up; Gloucester and Harlequins, who make operational profits but have significant debt; and Worcester. Exeter, too, in the league below, own a site with considerable potential, and it may be a sign of things to come that there was another sell-out yesterday, when 7,500 watched their league game against the Cornish Pirates."
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