The penultimate budget of the Top 14, Perpignan is red lantern in the standings, with 8 defeats in as many days: his difficult return to the elite, after four years of purgatory in Pro D2, points the financial fragility of the Catalan club, whose development depends in part on the maintenance.
A decade after his last title of champion of France (2009), Perpignan seeks a new economic model hoping to save his skin in the first division, despite a missed start. President since 2013 but refusing the title of patron, François River has already invested 8 million euros in the accounts of the club, each time "to fill the annual structural deficits" .
A fatality ? "No, we are working on developing our budget and balancing it. The goal is a budget of 20 million euros by 2020, then target 25 million, " says the head of enterprise, whose budget - 16 million euros for the current season - comes half partners, for a quarter of TV rights and other league payments, and a quarter of ticketing and merchandising.
"Keep a popular audience"
But the lack of economic momentum, in a city ranked among the poorest in France, penalizes it. "The ticketing adjustment variable is limited, from 200 to 300,000 euros. Not to mention that the department's GDP is low. So we can not increase ticket prices and I want to keep a popular public , " insists the businessman who made a fortune in the implementation of public parking.
And whose room for maneuver is necessarily limited. "We must therefore operate three levers: increase the number of our regional and national partners, improve the customer-supporter experience at the stadium and bet on the seduction of millenials (under 40s, Editor's note)" , explains Rivière, who was a mayoral candidate in 2009. However, while Usap has 400 partners, most of them local, it has not found a national jersey partner. Aimé-Giral Stadium is no longer a last generation stadium but has the advantage of being located in the city.
"We must maintain this proximity but we must develop the customer experience, this will be our first project. Historically, the club has the smallest average stadium spending per spectator. It has not long exceeded 1.5 euro ... So we will increase hospitality, snacking offer, the attractiveness of our shops. We need our supporters to spend more time at the stadium, " claims the president of Usap.
eSport and start-up incubator
The Perpignan club has in its cards, with the financial support of the municipality and the Occitanie region, a project to double the Chevalier tribune, the tribune of honor, to redesign its marketing offer.
"Every game we serve 1,150 partners. There is also room for maneuver, with a tool to better adapt. Our partner strategy must not be based solely on sporting success , " explains Rivière, well aware that relegation would not fix her plans.
Last option, the seduction of a younger audience with a surprising innovation for a rugby club: the creation of an electronic sports team that will tackle the game Fortnite Battle Royale, in which a hundred players face each other, alone or as a team to stay the only survivor on an island.
River is also considering "the creation of a sports start-ups incubator in Aimé-Giral" . However many challenges that could suffer from a return to Pro D2.