Quote mr. chairman="mr. chairman"regarding money to grass roots , amatuer clubs do not get one penny from the rfl .the rfl have a 28million grant to increase participation in our game by 2012 i think , not sure on the time. the amatuer clubs do get support from the rfl 's many officers but no cash . we do get our travel expences paid for the national open age age and youth team paid and the payment for match officials also get paid , so i suppose we do get supported and the rfl is a lot better at doing this than they used to be . what suprises me is that barla do not put anything in to grass roots . it costs amatuer clubs a fortune to send players on meaningless tours abroad (10k) leigh east paid out last year for barla tours yet the community tours (rfl) cost us nothing so i take my hat off to the rfl and turn my head when barla is mentioned'"
Sport England funding is till March 2013 - though it can be stopped at any time in theory. RFL got £29.4m, which is pretty much the same as the RFU, and only behind cricket and soccer.
The Zurich Premiership Rugby Clubs own their rights in much the same way as SL. In Exeter, at least, the Pro club runs juniors all the way down to under 8 alongside the local community clubs, but that buggers up the local structures because (especially at older groups) there are lots of lads who'd rather 'play for Chiefs' but never actually play, rather than get games every week at Exeter Saracens or Cullompton.
The RFU, though, has an absolute fortune to invest in its own development staff, plus it has massive grant funds to support community clubs and development projects in schools, etc. We really can't compete.
It also leverages its value massively. For example - International tickets are all sold through its member clubs. Each club gets allocated an amount of tickets. In Exeter, Wessex RFC (a tier 10 club, equivalent of NW Counties division 6) allow sponsors to apply for its share of tickets. On the back of that, the club raises around £10,000 per annum in Sponsorship and turns over aboud £22k per year. It provides coach travel to all away games, pays its coaches, and has been known to pay a match fee to two or three players. That is a low-level club with no clubhouse and no juniors, one team in a league and a skatchy second team in a merit table.
Just up the road, Tiverton RFC (tier 7) employ their own development officer and have an enclosed, floodlit ground with a stand, and facilities at least as good as Leigh Miners.
Financially, we are nowhere compared to the RFU.