Unfortunately, it’s the off field action prior to the first kickoff of the Premiership weekend stealing the headlines in round six. For the second time in the season a team has been purged from the Premiership schedule and the standings table due to the owners inability to meet financial obligations. The move will be official if the Wasps enter Administration on Monday, October 17, 2022.
If the Wasps enter Administration, a close UK equivalent of the USA’s Corporate Bankruptcy, it will be for defaulting on a £35 million obligation ironically stemming from their mid-season move in 2014 from London to Coventry to “protect the club’s long-term viability and stability.”
In short, it looks as though the Wasps are out and relegated. Saturday’s match against Exeter Chiefs is off, leaving the league with eleven of the original thirteen teams that began the 2022/23 season.
For those of you who are NFL fans, imagine what football might look like if the remainder of the Panthers’ and the Browns’ games suddenly disappeared from the schedule.
Fortunately, the current structure of rugby crowds all of the teams into one “division,” and the schedule has each team playing each other at home and away.
One article stated that the Warriors’ cancelled games would translate into four points to the scheduled opponent, but that is yet to be reflected in the standings table.
(Look for more about points in a few weeks).
Things in Coventry went well for Wasps until they didn’t. The team’s strong performance on the field, visits to the Premiership Final in 2016 and 2022, drew record crowds to Coventry until the governments of the world, rightly or wrongly, closed the planet for nearly two years.
While teams played in front of empty grandstands, payrolls needed to be met and bond interest compounded. For any team on the financial edge, the Whu-flu was dead man walking by the end of last season.
According to a report in the Guardian on October 14, senior officials favor a 10-team league and a ten team second tier league, which is likely to be in place by 2024-25. This means the league is likely to be raising the axe above the neck of one more club, though they article did not specify which team might be on the block.
But, one thing’s for sure, if Delta can close its most senior pilot domicile in Dallas and a team with the history like Wasps can be shut down, anything could happen to anyone.
Just one fan’s view from Beyond the Rafters.
Afters – If you are interested in watching Premiership Rugby in the United States (live or replays), you can stream all the matches on Peacock. Xfinity includes Peacock with some cable subscriptions.
Flo Rugby offers replays of the Autumn Internationals, USA Rugby, the Rugby Championships, and Super Rugby
Fine Print – Other than a customer, I am not affiliated with any league, team, or streaming/cable service.