Premiership clubs vote to reduce salary cap

David Skippers

Premiership Rugby CEO Darren Childs during the Gallagher Premiership Launch at Twickenham, London.

Premiership Rugby have announced that their clubs voted unanimously to temporarily reduce the salary cap, following the significant financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For clarity, the vote refers only to the salary cap changes from 2021/22 until 2023/2024, and not to any individual salary or contract.

The salary cap will be reduced in the 2021/22 season and will return to the current level before the start of the 2024/25 season at the latest.

Darren Childs, Premiership Rugby Chief Executive said: “Our clubs have taken these difficult steps as part of a range of measures to weather the significant financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The ambition for the future of the game remains unchanged, and as we look beyond the immediate crisis we know that Premiership Rugby has huge potential to bring people together and will grow as a sport with the players, clubs and all stakeholders sharing in that future.”

At a meeting of the Premiership Rugby clubs on Monday 8 June it was decided:

From 2021/22:

The senior ceiling will be £5m (down from £6.4m), and it will continue to be linked to the central growth of Premiership Rugby.
Home-grown player credits will be retained up to £600,000.
International and EPS player credits will be retained but limited to a maximum of £400,000.
Season-long loans salary cap exemption will be removed.
The academy ceiling will remain at £100,000 (this is for non-home grown academy players) but the upper salary limit for an academy player will increase from £30,000 to £50,000. Homegrown academy players do not get counted in the £100,000, boosting the clubs’ ability to support young English qualified talent.
For any existing contracts that continue into the 2021-22 salary year, and beyond, their cap cost will be counted at 75 per cent of their overall actual value, to sensibly manage the transition to new cap levels.

From 2022/23:

Excluded players will reduce to one player, except for where a club has a current contract in place for two excluded players. In that scenario, both players may remain as excluded players until the first of their current contracts expire. The decision to reduce from two excluded players to one is based on balancing financial sustainability while still attracting the best talent from around the world to the league.

From 2024/25:

The senior ceiling will return to a minimum of £6.4m.