Igor Anic, captain of Cesson Rennes Métropole Handball, here in the Glaz Arena in November 2020. -
C. Allain / 20 Minutes
Plagued by the health crisis and the imposed closed doors, the handball club of Cesson Rennes Métropole is launching a call for crowdfunding.
According to the club, he will be missing 550,000 euros at the end of the season, in particular due to the lack of ticketing revenue.
In the event of a major deficit, the club's liquidation could be pronounced, warn its leaders.
He detailed everything, put everything on the table.
Without shame and with an outspokenness that recalls the gravity of the situation.
President of Cesson Rennes Métropole Handball, Stéphane Clémenceau unveiled this Thursday an action plan whose name sums up his intentions well: "Save the CRMHB".
Promoted to the elite after a year in the purgatory of the Proligue, the club from the Breton capital has just launched a major crowdfunding campaign to try to make ends meet.
Because the closed door imposed by the Covid-19 epidemic hurts him very much.
“Our club is atypical.
First, because it only works with 20% of public subsidies.
We are very dependent on ticketing revenue.
But also because our room is the property of a private actor.
We are tenants here, ”explains Stéphane Clémenceau.
With a budget of 3.2 million euros, among the tightest in the Lidl Starligue, the club estimates that it will be missing 550,000 euros at the end of the season.
If state support will allow it to reduce the bill of 200,000 euros, the Breton club has a "hole" of 350,000 euros to be plugged.
“We are a company, not an association.
If we are not in equilibrium, we will disappear ”.
But the management refuses to solicit the owner of his Glaz Arena, who did him a favor by reducing the note to 400,000 euros for the descent in Starligue.
She does not want to touch the salaries of her players either.
“The average salary in Cesson is 3,000 euros per month.
Some players have agreed to join us when they could have won two or three times as much elsewhere.
We don't want to get by just by crushing our charges, ”continues the president.
On the other hand, she asked local communities to try to get some help.
"We can be proud"
To complete the budget, the club therefore launched this Thursday a large crowdfunding campaign.
Each donor can choose a "pack" offered between 15 and 500 euros including remuneration such as the presence of his name on a collector's jersey or a day alongside the players.
“I will be the first donor.
When we see how the leaders are fighting to save our jobs and our club, I tell myself that we can be proud, ”said Irreducibles coach Sébastien Leriche.
“We will continue to fight on the field, this is the minimum we can do.
I spoke to the players in the locker room during the match in Montpellier.
I think it was no stranger to the draw that we pulled ”.
Captain of the CRMHB, Igor Anic shares this admiration for the hard work of his management to save the club from bankruptcy.
“We are fighting for us, so that we can continue to train and play.
To be good, it is very important to be able to do it serenely ”.
Twelfth in the standings, Cesson Handball will need the confidence to challenge the solid neighbor of Nantes in a derby that promises to be tough.
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Towards popular shareholding?
The management of the club has indicated that it wishes to open its shareholding to individuals within “two to three years” in order to strengthen the involvement of “the faithful” within the club.
With the ambition to take Cesson higher in the standings than it is today.
Stadium
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding
Covid 19
epidemic
Handball
Coronavirus
Reindeer
Sport