Is the proposed new PRA a good deal or not?
An agreement is moving closer but will it go far enough?
Over the next couple of weeks, the Welsh Rugby Union hope to agree a new five-year Professional Rugby Agreement with its four professional sides - Cardiff, Dragons RFC, Ospreys and Scarlets. Nothing has been signed yet, and there is a bit of back and forth over certain elements of the deal, but WalesOnline understands a deal is moving closer.
If agreed the new PRA will see the WRU distribute circa £120.1m to the four professional clubs over the next five years, which is an increase on the current deal. The general consensus is the new PRA is far better than the previous one but in this writer's opinion it doesn't go far enough to solve the underlying issues in Welsh rugby.
Undoubtedly the most positive aspect of the PRA is the WRU's decision to take the Welsh Government debt, negotiated during Covid, away from the clubs and onto their own balance sheet which should have been the case from the start. The debt for equity swap, along with a rolling three-year funding model, will give the clubs an element of financial certainty for a while. WalesOnline understands the latest version of the deal would see the WRU take just one, time-limited, preference share. The final version is yet to be decided.
There is a minimum spend on the academies, while the playing budgets will gradually rise from £4.5m this season to £6.8m in financial year 2029. While this is an improvement, everything seems to be happening at a snail's pace in Welsh rugby and the general consensus is a £6.8m budget with talent spread across four sides gets you to the play-offs but not lifting silverware.
The incentivised funding model, where the WRU pay an extra 20% if certain requests are met, is a fair trade-off on paper but there is bound to be friction between the new Centre of Excellence (CoE) and the clubs. The bonus payment of 20% is made up of a number of requests, so some could be agreed but others refused. For example, it could mean a certain club gets 13% of the 20% on offer if it meets some but not all of the requests.