Super League clubs ranked by 2022 financial losses with competition-wide deficits
The 11 English clubs competing in Super League posted combined losses after tax in excess of £12million last season, Love Rugby League can reveal – with every club posting a loss of their own.
The latest financial figures for every club competing in the top-flight this season – Leigh were in the Championship for the period of their 2022 accounts – make for worrying reading across the competition.
Total post-tax losses of £12.3million were posted collectively, with many clubs posting losses in excess of £1million on their own.
With Government support during the Covid-19 pandemic being phased out once and for all during 2022, the period which these latest accounting figures showcase, plus the further drop-off in central distribution for the sport, the return is a worrying set of financial figures for almost every club.
Salford Red Devils were the best-performing club financially but even then, they lost just under £600,000.
Wakefield Trinity were the only club in 2021’s accounts to post a profit but they also made a loss this time, totalling £603,956.
Six Super League clubs posted seven-figure losses all on their own – Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves, St Helens, Leeds Rhinos, Hull Kingston Rovers and Huddersfield Giants.
Huddersfield posted by far the biggest loss in Super League: an eye-watering £2.5million.
Leigh’s pursuit of promotion from the Championship also came at a financial cost, with the Leopards posting a loss for the year ending November 2022 totalling almost £900,000.
A number of clubs who have posted their full, detailed accounts – others have only posted the unaudited, abridged version – have also outlined the impact a drop in central distribution has had on their financial outlook. Wigan were among the clubs whose directors stated that.
There are caveats to be taken from the clubs who have posted their full accounts, though. St Helens are a prime example of that, with their losses exaggerated by factors including a depreciation in the Totally Wicked Stadium, which they own, and which is automatically added to the bottom-line loss they post.
After factors including depreciation and taxation, the Saints’ cash loss is only in the region of £385,000, while other clubs who do not own their own stadium are much more likely to have a larger cash loss.
Furthermore, Covid loans have started to be repaid from July of this year, something which will be reflected in this year’s accounts when they are made public next summer.
It is perhaps therefore not difficult to see why clubs have invested so much hope into IMG bringing more money into the sport.
Super League clubs ranked by their 2022 financial losses
11. Salford Red Devils
Year End: 30 November 2022
Loss of £580,547
10. Wakefield Trinity
Year End: 30 November 2022
Loss of £603,956
9. Hull FC
Year End: 30 November 2022
Loss of £639,167
8. Castleford Tigers
Year End: 30 November 2022
Loss of £766,809
7. Leigh Leopards
Year End: 30 November 2022
Loss of £867,949
6. Hull Kingston Rovers
Year End: 30 November 2022
Loss of £1,107,223
5. Wigan Warriors
Year End: 30 November 2022
Loss of £1,215,215
4. Leeds Rhinos
Year End: 31 October 2022
Loss of £1,282,150
3. Warrington Wolves
Year End: 30 November 2022
Loss of £1,302,480
2. St Helens
Year End: 31 October 2022
Loss of £1,379,014
1. Huddersfield Giants
Year End: 30 November 2022
Loss of £2,579,831
Total: Post-tax losses of £12,324,641
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