Gloucester CEO Lance Bradley calls for reforms to make Premiership more sustainable

Gloucester sold out their stadium Kingsholm for the first time this season for their recent match with Exeter

Gloucester chief executive officer Lance Bradley says the Premiership needs to have more "financial transparency".

Both Worcester and Wasps have gone into administration due to financial problems this autumn.

The clubs have since been suspended and relegated from the Premiership.

Bradley reiterated that Gloucester's finances are in a "good position", yet said things could be done better across the league to make it more sustainable.

"My background is automotive, in that industry there's a high level of transparency between the dealer and the manufacturer," Bradley told BBC Points West.

"If we had that between the clubs and PRL [Premiership Rugby] you would have spotted the Worcester situation three years ago and the Wasps situation maybe five years ago.

"We are talking about introducing that, we've already agreed to do that, other clubs are following - I hope. That would be better."

Gloucester recorded a pre-tax profit of just over £1m in their last accounts but still have a government loan of more than £11.2m to repay.

"There's also some issue around governance," Bradley added.

"At the moment a lot of things go to a vote - that doesn't always result in what's best for the league. We've got a great executive at PRL run by Simon Massie Taylor, my view is we should trust the executive to make the right decisions and let them get on with it."

'Something bold, something different'

As it stands, the salary cap that applies to all teams in the Premiership is due to increase from £5m back to £6.4m. Yet Bradley said the league needs to work on creating a more attractive package for fans and stakeholders first, to increase collective revenue, before raising the cap.

The salary cap was reduced in 2021 due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"There is a feeling among some clubs that they'd like to spend more, particularly to be competitive in Europe," Bradley said.

"But the primary thing, the thing that's most important to everybody is we want to have a competitive league in England - so we've got to have a Premiership that's hugely competitive.

"That's more attractive to fans, it's more attractive to TV and then your revenue goes up anyway."

Bradley echoed calls made by Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter for the league to be reduced to 10 teams and suggested a smaller division would create opportunities to focus on different competitions, such as the Premiership Rugby Cup.

Currently the cup is mostly used by clubs to field academy or fringe players, or those coming back to full fitness from injury.

"There's an opportunity there to do something quite exciting - a cup competition that includes Championship clubs," Bradley added.

"The sad demise of those two clubs [Worcester and Wasps] does give us the chance - should we do something different, should we do something bold?"