Gloucester owner signals increased investment interest in Prem rugby

Martin St Quinton, the owner of Gloucester, stated there is "more appetite" to invest in Premiership rugby following the official scrapping of relegation from the league. The changes, set to take effect from the 2026-27 season, will abolish promotion and relegation to and from the top flight, moving forward. Clubs will be required to apply to join, with an assessment based on various criteria.

Since the announcement made in February, Bath secured significant new investment from British billionaire Sir James Dyson, while Exeter Chiefs approved a takeover by Cannae Holdings' Black Knight, which owns Premier League club Bournemouth. "We’ve been talking to people for a while except the big difference now is there’s a much greater appetite to invest principally because we’ve scrapped relegation," St Quinton told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

He explained that the existence of relegation made it challenging for potential investors to envisage the repercussions of their investments should a team get relegated, which was a daunting prospect for them.

St Quinton, who has held a financial stake in Gloucester since 2008 and became the majority owner in 2016, cited the arrival of investors like Dyson, Black Knight, and Red Bull, who took over Newcastle in September, as indications of the Premiership becoming an attractive opportunity. Although St Quinton emphasized Gloucester was not for sale, he expressed willingness to engage with any potential new investors to keep pace with the influx of capital into rugby.

"Can we keep up with it? We’re absolutely doing our best," he mentioned. "But as I said all along, if a big corporate came along that all the shareholders really felt could actually take the club to a different level and win trophies, that’s what we basically want to do for all the very loyal fans we’ve got. We would talk to an external investor."

The club's latest accounts, covering the 2023-24 season, indicated a loss of £516,000, pointing out the difficulty of remaining competitive in the league while aiming to break even. "It’s very difficult to be competitive in the league and break even," he said, adding that he often has to inject additional funds to cover the shortfall.

Furthermore, St Quinton supported expanding the Premiership to 12 teams in the future, as planned for the 2029-30 season, to enhance the number of home games available. "I’m very much in favour of the Prem going from 10 to 12," he indicated. "Nine home games just isn’t enough in my opinion. I would love to see two more teams join, whether that’s two of the Welsh teams - because the Welsh club game needs a solution - or whether it’s two completely new teams coming in."

This season, Gloucester played one of their home games at Villa Park in Birmingham for the first time, aiming to attract new fans and increase revenue by utilizing a larger stadium. Although the Cherry and Whites faced a disappointing 36-17 loss to Leicester, selling about 24,500 tickets was perceived as a positive start. St Quinton plans to return to Villa Park in 2026-27 while addressing the issues encountered to ensure a better experience in the future.

"The kick-off time wasn’t right - we were made to kick off at one o’clock, which is too early. Some of the transport wasn’t good enough; we’re going to dramatically improve that next year," he stated, expressing hope for greater attendance figures in subsequent matches.