Benefactor of Premiership hopefuls Coventry Rugby Jon Sharp sits down with City AM to discuss why he’d sell up and walk away if the right party came along.
A brief poke under the bonnet of rugby union’s financials would be enough to frighten even Formula 1’s greatest mechanic away.
In so-called perfect France losses are mounting and in England clubs in the top tier have their backs to the wall; Wales have seen a region go under and the wider international game is on the hunt for sustainable, long-term investment.
But at Butts Park Arena, a stadium just four miles from the most recent resting place of former European champions Wasps, sits Coventry Rugby.
At its helm is Jon Sharp, the no-nonsense local boy-turned-multi-millionaire backer of the Championship team with around 95 per cent of the shares.
And his club is for sale.
“Provided the deal included the club [and not just a proposed area development],” he bluntly tells City AM. “I would be willing to walk away.
“I don’t want to sound too bloody precious about it but I haven’t put £10m into this club to make any money out of it; I put that money in to develop it, and that has happened dramatically over the last few years.
“My mission is to see this club secured.”
Sharp wouldn’t, though, walk for any old wheelbarrow of cash, because Coventry are on the up and could be in the Premiership within a couple of years.
They applied for promotion through the minimum standards criteria audit knowing they wouldn’t necessarily satisfy the lengthy list of requirements needed to move into Premiership Rugby, Sharp says, but it allowed the club to know exactly what and where they need to improve.
There’s a feeling in the sport that a 10-team Premiership up above might not be the long-term solution, with clubs in the top flight losing out on revenue with fewer matches at home.
But Sharp is focused on the here and now, and has set a two-season target to satisfy promotion needs as part of a wider transformation of Butts Park Arena and its surrounding area.
The club wants to increase the stadium’s capacity to 8,000 – with 10,000 then possible – while also building a new mixed-use scheme with affordable housing adjacent to the ground.
It’ll cost £50m-plus and increase the club’s value by 50 per cent, while a separate £1m refurbishment of facilities is taking place with donations welcome.
“If people want to come along with £20,000-£50,000, and come as a benefactor knowing that you know they aren’t necessarily going to get the money back, you can do it through sponsorship or gift,” Sharp continues.
Article courtesy of
Source link
