Less than a third of British adults trust football and rugby team owners to “run their clubs in a financially sustainable manner” amid intensifying scrutiny on those who buy sporting institutions.
Exclusive Ipsos polling for City AM shows that just 32 per cent of adults trust the owner of their football or rugby club. It comes as an overwhelming majority of Brits — 90 per cent — believe that external powers should take steps to ensure that owners of clubs are fit and proper. Thirty per cent of those asked say they do trust their club’s owner, with the rest unsure.
Following the introduction of the Independent Football Regulator last November — rugby does not have an equivalent government-established quango — 75 per cent of the 1,000 respondents believe that there should be more regulation to ensure that professional sports clubs avoid going into administration.
Football has been dogged with a number of financial problems in recent seasons, most notably Sheffield Wednesday’s slide into administration. Rugby, on the other hand, has seen three top-flight clubs enter administration in the last five years, with only one seeing a resurrection since.
“There is strong recognition that existing ownership rules have failed to prevent repeated financial crises across football and rugby,” Professor Rob Wilson told City AM.
“The public is signalling that sustainability should be built into the system rather than addressed after collapse. This is a call for stronger governance that protects clubs as community institutions rather than speculative assets.”
Football and rugby woes
Elsewhere Brits think ownership rules for football (81 per cent) and rugby (76 per cent) clubs need to be more effective, with the proportion of those trusting their owners to run clubs diminishing among older demographics.
“Fans and the wider public are clear that owners cannot be insulated from the consequences of failure,” Professor Wilson added. “There is growing frustration with a model where rewards are privatised while losses fall elsewhere. People expect owners to take responsibility for their decisions and to bear the risk when clubs fall into financial trouble.”
Of the respondents, 76 per cent believe the owners should be held accountable for financial troubles clubs find themselves in, while 74 per cent also put blame at the feet of executives and financial officers.
A third of people say they would blame regulatory bodies while 20 per cent believe corporate sponsors should shoulder some responsibility. Just over 10 per cent of those asked believe the government should bear the blame.