Ospreys to St Helens

I think that ST has put 2 and 2 together and come up with 859 as an answer.

I can see the WRU wanting to have more control over the Team Wales lads and I can see them trying to exert some influence about players moving (Read Gatland here) but the players will still have to agree to the movement and I doubt any of the regions would be willing to cede that amount of power to the WRUin for any sort of balance sheet improvement.

If we do agree to this in whatever form it is framed, then we have to think that the powers that be inside the Ospreys have agreed that it is the best course of action for the Ospreys. Of course we all want Wales to do well, but we are Ospreys supporters first.

Essentially we and all other regions only exist because shareholders are prepared to fund losses and this cannot and will not go on forever. If a compromise agreement is required with the union with the best safeguards we can negotiate to get us into our own stadium and enable us to build a business model that is sustainable then we have to do it. There is zero point in having pure independence and then running out of money.

Two very good, pragmatic posts. Just as we support the team and trust in the staff then so too should we support and trust the management/owners. We don't have a lot of choice anyway.

I think we need to see what the proposals are before getting too het up about this. I dont see a problem with a 20% stake in return for taking liability off the balance sheet and ensuring teams dont stockpile in the same position. I would have thought Cardiff would be the biggest objectors to forcing players to move positions. It would impact on Grady and Ben Thomas.

WRU paid out £2.85M and wrote off a £900,000 loan in 2017 to acquire the 50% of Dragons they did not already own. They did not get it free and as others have said, they put more in over the years.

I think you are missing the point. We all know the union paid consideration to acquire the Dargons. The point is that they gave it away including Rodney Parade to the new shareholders in return for taking on the same Covid loans that the other three did without getting a stadium thrown in for free.

That is incorrect. Prior to 2017 they made fixed distributions. It was only project reset that introduced the community game underwrite.

Do you have a crystal ball? Can you please therefore tell me what the lottery numbers are for the Euro millions tonight?

Let's wait and see eh?

No but I could tell you my reservations but it is commercially sensitive

You expect Lance to discuss commercially sensitive information in a public forum when you won’t. That seems strange. Of course a month to put everything in place is tight and I agree more unlikely than likely but would it matter in the greater scheme of things if it took a few months longer

New year ?

Not now. All bar 2 games that clash with Swans and a possible third if Swans get home draw in FA Cup third round

Scarlets now Saturday before Xmas at Swansea

I think there are 3 games tbc and they are the 3 fixture clashes with the Swans.

Excuse my ignorance but what do you mean by a turn?

Obtain something and just sell ( turn) for a profit

In this case interested parties could state they needed monies to develop the ground, obtaining a hotel lease / planning from CCSx on this basis ,

They could hold the asset and build the hotel , but this would not immediately fund the ground improvements, and construction costs would also need to be funded

( funding costs for ground improvement and Hotel would create a massive debt and interest payments)

Or

This “asset could be sold on to others who would have very little chance to obtain such a favourable lease / planning

if any at all

And the profit used for ground improvements

Or, more likely, a consortium of Y11 and Swansea CC could sell shares in a venture in which they "invest" the site. There are umpteen ways of getting it done without losing all future interest in the profits.

I think it will be a “ turn”

If I’m wrong I will buy you your first pint in the new clubhouse

I can well believe it will be a turn but I think they will fund ahead of that turn and get subsequent payback rather than wait for it to be the funding mechanism.

This article by Sion Barry, business editor of Western Mail etc explains how the Parkgate hotel is a good deal for WRU who already owned the site from when they built the stadium.

Why the WRU moving into the hotel business is actually a smart move which is good for Welsh rugby - Sion Barry - Wales Online

I half expect Y11 and Swansea CC to9 set up a stadium company and a separate hotel/leisure company with separate finance streams to each other and the regional team though other models are possible. As you say, there is a long way to go yet and we are entering the worlds of high finance and politics.

I worked it out that each Gallagher Prem club owns a share in their league worth around £40M to £50M (using the amount CVC paid for 28%).

No Welsh region has that kind of money to buy in and WRU are hardly likely to support a team playing in a league that competes with the one they co-own.

I’m not on that site, was it by any of the posters that said we were definitely relocating to Bridgend?!

Anything can happen and the weeks and months ahead will be full of rumours. All we can do is get on with the stadium and be on a position to win any independent tendering process that may happen if the current participation agreement has to be changed. Factors such as primacy of tenure off field revenue generation, population base, business base, city region will be factored in. Even as the second city the dice is loaded against us in an tender without a stadium. With it the dice starts to load in our favour