Gloucester are set to host a showpiece match at Villa Park against Leicester Tigers. The Cherry and Whites are trading Kingsholm for Villa Park in Birmingham on Saturday. The match kicks off at 13:00 GMT.
The Drive for Revenue
The idea to host a showpiece game has been in the pipeline for a number of years. Gloucester’s chief executive Alex Brown said a visit to Aston Villa’s home last year confirmed it was the right place to try. Brown told BBC Sport that the grandeur of the stadium and the level of experience for football fans was impressive and exciting.
Kingsholm has a capacity of about 16,000, while Villa Park is almost three times bigger at 45,000. Commercially there are opportunities to generate more money. This is a big driver for a modest-sized club such as Gloucester.
Harlequins sell out 82,000 at Twickenham, generating massive commercial revenue. Gloucester want the same. Brown added that he doesn’t think they’re going to sell out in year two or maybe not even year three, but they have to start somewhere to make the sport financially sustainable.
- The goal is to use this extra revenue to reinvest into the squad.
Learning from Others
While on the pitch Prem rivalries are fierce, off it there is plenty of collaboration. Gloucester have lent on Quins, Saracens and Bristol to learn from their experiences in hosting these games. Club leaders meet monthly where initiatives that can benefit everyone are often up for discussion.
Brown said that they’ve learned a lot from Quins, who are the masters of this, as they do two big games a year. Bristol were very open with what they did last year at Cardiff, and Saracens were the same. Brown added that there is a collaborative working group driving this big game initiative and he suspects more clubs will go down this route as times go by.
Gloucester come into the game off the back of a win against Harlequins last weekend.
Expanding the Talent Pool
Money, however, is far from the only factor behind the match. Changes to Prem academy boundaries two years ago meant that Gloucester’s catchment area now stretches as far.