Exeter Chiefs CEO defends club’s financial outlook with ‘exciting future ahead’

Tony Rowe is confident Exeter Chiefs have weathered the worst squalls of the financial storm that has sunk three Gallagher Premiership sides in the last year and believes next year his club will be fully back on track.

Exeter Rugby Club chief executive Rowe was there to help the club during its most challenging period coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic after 18 months of matchday revenue streams being strangled. In November the Devon club confirmed that local businessman Rowe had bought a percentage of shares in the recently completed Sandy Park Hotel from Exeter Chiefs to allow the club to pay down debts. Chiefs still own more than a quarter of the business meaning it will continue to be a source of future income.

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Rowe explained Exeter’s: “The club had assets within its business structure that we were able to use to help bring much-needed funds back in to help combat the repayment on loans and address other issues around the finances.

“That effectively helped keep us afloat through some tough trading months, but now as we look to the future we are very confident that next year we will be back in full recovery mode.”

Rowe’s comments come in light of speculation that Chiefs’ finances are on shaky grounds following the demise of Worcester Warriors and Wasps in September and then London Irish last week, leaving the Premiership with just 10 teams heading into 2023/24.

Rowe said: “For the last three years, ever since Covid hit, every club has been tested like never before. It’s been a real challenge for all of us, not helped by the ongoing situation with the war in Ukraine [causing increased energy bills], and sadly not every club has been able to get through the process as we have seen.

“To lose another club this week underlines just how tough it has been and it’s a trend that needs to be bucked sooner rather than later.

“Sandy Park itself is incredibly busy, Sandy Park Hotel is very busy and with crowds starting to come back into stadiums, both for our men’s and women’s teams, as well as the concerts we are holding here this summer, we see a bright and exciting future ahead for the club and for our business as a whole.”

The crunch on finances in the Premiership has had an on-field impact across the league as well, with clubs having to slim down their squads and jettison star players to fit within the reduced £5m baseline salary cap which was agreed upon during the Covid 19 pandemic to try and reduce loses. Whereas some clubs made dramatic wage cuts in 2020, Exeter looked after their players to use loopholes to pay their players close to the full value of their original contracts and valuation, but the result has been an exodus of stars this season as deals have wound down. A rebuild of the men’s squad is underway, with developing talent from within the academy and signing young up-and-coming players the strategy being employed. Meanwhile, Exeter Chiefs Women have reached the final of Premier 15s where they will play Gloucester-Hartpury.

Rowe said: “Personally, I’m really looking forward to the future.

“The squads we are assembling for the new season are hugely exciting and clearly with an eye to the long-term future as well. We have never been a club who look for a short-term fix, we’ve always had a vision of where we want to go, how we want to get there and a realistic time frame of how long that will be.

“Our success in recent years has been built around having those solid foundations and that is what we will continue to do as we look to attack next season and beyond.”