Gloucester Rugby will play Leicester Tigers at Villa Park in Birmingham. The Cherry and Whites are trading their home ground, Kingsholm, for the Premier League side Aston Villa’s stadium on Saturday.
Villa Park Game to Boost Revenue
The idea to host a showpiece game has been in the pipeline for a number of years, according to chief executive Alex Brown. A visit to Villa Park confirmed it was the right place to try. Brown told BBC Sport that the club was impressed by the stadium and the fan experience.
Moving a home game comes with challenges. Kingsholm has a capacity of about 16,000, while Villa Park holds 45,000.
Commercially, the move presents opportunities to generate more money. This is a major factor for Gloucester, a modest-sized club. Brown referenced Harlequins’ success in selling out 82,000 seats at Twickenham, highlighting the potential revenue.
“The goal is to use this extra revenue that we’re getting for this game to reinvest into our squad,” Brown added.
Learning from Other Clubs’ Experiences
Gloucester have leaned on other Premiership clubs for their experiences in hosting games at large venues. Harlequins, Saracens, and Bristol have all shared their insights.
Club leaders meet monthly to discuss initiatives that can benefit everyone. “We’ve definitely learned a lot from Quins who are the masters of this, they do two big games a year,” Brown said.
Bristol were very open with what they did last year at Cardiff and Saracens the same. According to Brown, a collaborative working group is driving this big game initiative and more clubs may follow suit.
Expanding the Talent Pool
Money is not the only factor behind the match. Changes to Premiership academy boundaries two years ago expanded Gloucester’s catchment area.
Gloucester come into the game off the back of a win against Harlequins last weekend.
Gloucester hope the Villa Park game will grow revenue, fanbase and talent pool.