Bristol Bears defend hosting Premiership game in Cardiff
BRISTOL Bears COO Tom Tainton insists rugby must continue to “take calculated risks” to widen its appeal and draw in new fans if it's ever going to become a sustainable sport.
While appreciating the decision to move their Round 16 home derby with Bath to the Principality Stadium in Cardiff may not be universally popular with their 8,000plus season ticket holders, Tainton says rugby cannot afford to keep doing the same things if it wants to grow.
Bristol, backed by their billionaire owner Steve Lansdown, finished with a total loss of £4,554,814 for the 2022/23 season, the second highest total in a league that continues to haemorrhage money. Cumulatively, the 10 Premiership clubs lost just over £25 million between them last year.
“We need to have events like this that get people talking,” Tainton, below, told The Rugby Paper. “Whether everyone is onside or people don't like it, the point is we have to try and think differently and do things differently and put our head above the parapet and take calculated risks because, ultimately, we need to grow the game and we need to reach out to new audiences.
“For Bristol Bears, our club, we need to be commercially sustainable. We rely heavily on the Lansdown family and we need to take the right steps to grow our revenue.”
The ‘Big Day Out' game is scheduled for Saturday May 10 and will be the first-ever Premiership game to be played in Wales.
It mirrors the initiatives of other clubs such as Harlequins and Saracens, while neighbours Bath have also dabbled with the concept, having staged ‘The Clash' at Twickenham on three occasions (2017-19) to great success, with each game attracting just over 60,000 fans.
Harlequins' Big Game' is the most established fixture of this type and will be back for a 16th edition at the end of December when the Londoners host Leicester at the home of English rugby. Its longevity, and popularity, influenced Bristol in their decision to take last season's highest-attended league game away from Ashton Gate.
“We feel excited about the opportunity to take a game to the Principality, we know how iconic that is as a venue,” added Tainton. “There is a captive audience on the Welsh side of the bridge but similarly there is a captive audience in the West Country, and all of us as clubs in the Premiership have a duty to grow the game and amplify what we are doing.
“Premiership Rugby have been really supportive of this venture and I think we have seen and we can be confident in the successes of Bath with The Clash, Harlequins with The Big Game and Saracens with The Showdown. There is credit in the bank and there is proof of concept, the onus is now on us to deliver something unique in the West Country.”
If the ‘Big Day Out' is half as successful as its forerunners Bristol can expect its average home attendance to top 20,000. Last season, Premiership crowds at Ashton Gate were up 2.8 per cent, to 18,936.
The match is included as part of a season ticket and the club is working on subsided travel for season ticket holders in a bid to get as many Bears fans across the Severn Bridge as possible.
“This isn't an exhibition game at the Principality, this is a Bristol Bears home game and it is on us a club to make it feel like a home game.”
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