Saracens hit out at disjointed rugby calendar amid £9m loss

Saracens have hit out at the disjointed rugby calendar after the London club made losses of £9m last season.

The side, who finished sixth last year and missed out on the semi-finals, used their accounts to criticise rugby’s domestic calendar, which features huge spells without matches to ensure that players can play international rugby and clubs have games between September and May despite the Prem losing three teams in recent seasons.

Saracens Limited, the subsidiary of Saracens Group Holdings Limited that runs the rugby team, posted losses of £8.9m for last season, up by £1.5m.

Revenues fell by more than £1.5m for the period ending 30 June, which the club put down, in large part, to a loss of income from Premiership Rugby.

The Companies House documents stated that the directors consider the “principal risks to the company include ongoing difficulties with operating a disjoined rugby calendar, particularly as multiple stakeholders in the game balance club and international commitments, while ensuring adequate rest”.

Saracens on the charge

“Securing a coherent calendar,” the statement added, “would allow the Premiership to grow and commercialise its audiences better.

“A failure to do so risks leaving club rugby under-exposed in a saturated media and entertainment landscape.”

The club signed a long-term deal with stadium sponsor StoneX, but the separate stadium business does not come under the umbrella accounts of Saracens Limited.

Documents also hailed the 55,000 fans that turned up for the club’s annual match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2025, but that figure fell to just over 40,000 this season while the club made a number of redundancies to key positions earlier this year which will be reflected in next year’s accounts.

“Furthermore,” the directors’ report concluded, “we foresee risk if consumer sentiment and macroeconomic performance remains stagnant, which would impact ticket, hospitality and events sales.” 

Saracens remain sixth in this year’s Prem Rugby table but are within striking distance of the top four with five games remaining.