By Nick Powell, Digital Editor
Former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is considering buying Wasps as the club continue to look at options to keep themselves in the Premiership.
Ashley sold the Magpies to a Saudi Arabian-backed consortium exactly one year ago last Friday, and was initially looking to buy Derby County earlier this year, before David Clowes, a local property developer, completed a purchase of League One football club.
Now Ashley has turned his attention to rugby, with a keen eye on the CBS Arena site which also has a Hilton Hotel, Grovesnor Casino, and possibly even the Championship football club that occupy the site, Coventry City.
The offer includes Ashley refinancing £35 million worth of debt against Wasps accrued by the Bonds used to buy the stadium, and with a net worth just shy of £3 billion his money will likely be able to go a lot further than it did at Newcastle United.
However, as reported on the Mail Online, the deal is incumbent upon Ashley being able to buy the club “at the right price”, and he may be reluctant to if Wasps' are forced into administration and are relegated to the Championship.
Wasps desperately need to find a buyer in advance of Monday's winding-up petition deadline set by HM Revenue and Customs, with an unpaid £2 million tax bill looming and a source for the Mail claiming “that the club are in danger of running out of money for wages and essential costs this week and that overall they are swamped by a ‘debt pile of £65m'.”
With his considerable wealth Ashley would be able to amend some of these problems, but without Coventry City included in the deal and the strong possibility he will struggle to yield a return on a large investment, he may be put off by the challenges in place for Wasps.
Though Wasps have unquestionable pedigree in England and Europe, having won the Premiership six times and the Champions Cup twice, the club's average attendance last season was 9,946 in a stadium holding 32,609 capacity; down from 16,142 in the final season before Covid-19, 2018-19.
So far this season, albeit after only two home games, their average gate has been 8564, less than half the tally they achieved in 2017/18 where they had a mean attendance of 17,140 over the course of the full season, where they ranked sixth in Europe for their average gate.
And several individuals took to social media to criticise the notion put forward by Lawrence Dallaglio that Wasps should be spared relegation if they do enter administration, unlike Worcester were, because of the historical significance of their brand and successful history on the field.
Brian Moore strongly criticised the comments in Telegraph, writing: “Sorry, but the rules were agreed by everybody; equally big clubs have survived suffering relegation and not complained. There is a reason this sort of deal is proposed – they get the assets cheaper and leave a lot of little people out of pocket.
“No club can claim to have contributed so much that it is a special case. Would Wasps supporters back a similar call if it came from Quins who, despite winning nowhere near as much, are very much the equal of Wasps when it comes to rugby brands?”
As well as the direct comparison with Worcester, others cited clubs like London Scottish and Welsh, and Richmond, who were all big clubs that were liquidated and relegated to the very bottom tier of English Rugby when their phoenix clubs emerged. Elsewhere Moseley, Coventry, Leeds, Rotherham and West Hartlepool were also mentionable, each of whom had to lower their aspirations to playing in the lower leagues and with semi-professional teams, once it had become clear that they did not have the financial power to compete in the Premiership anymore.
Whoever buys the club, and Ashley is one of five potential buyers, the deadline is looming and every day will count as Wasps aim to avoid the same fate that Worcester have suffered.
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