Wasps are the issue de jour for poor finance, but the problem is actually quite dire across much and maybe all of professional rugby. Consider the situation in Wales and Scotland. And only a handful of countries out of ca 100 IRB members have the financial basis for professional play at all. The problem is really not that hard to diagnose: the costs are greater than the revenues, and cash-flow is thin. Because the players are free to move after contracts are completed (and sometimes even before - SBW, for example) teams with greater access to resources can poach premier talent, which leaves the less well financed teams with an inferior product. That means fewer bums in seats, and less appeal to the television sponsors. The rest of the sponsorship is more or less enthusiastic, but for the most part not able to front huge amounts of money. Except in France, there are not loony owners with "unlimited" resources (and really only Toulon is in that category). The situation is not really terribly different in Australia, where the ARU financing is pretty tenuous, or even in New Zealand, where there just is not a big enough economy to splash money around. See all the SH players now picking up "big" paychecks in NH/Japan. Overwhelmingly, the Elite players in Argentina play in France, because the domestic game does not make full-time professional rugby possible. The business model is flawed. Can't comment on how this might apply to cricket, but it is worth considering. Mark L.
Only in England.
