- Stade Nantais aims to go up in Pro D2 in the next 3 years.
- He will create a company to allow a fundraising.
- The club expects a budget between 4 and 4.5 million euros.
The main rugby club in the Nantes metropolitan area, Stade Nantais has been playing in Federal 1 (third national division) for four seasons. Structured, it now aims higher and aims to become a professional club by 2022. Its leaders announced it Tuesday evening during an evening organized for economic partners. Explanations.
The Stade Nantais season
After 18 days of championship, Stade Nantais occupies 4th place in its pool. If Union Cognac / Saint-Jean d'Angély leads the way, three teams can still play second place: Dax (60 points), Saint-Jean-de-Luz (59 pts) and Nantes (57 pts). The fifth, Trélissac (50 pts) seems to be off the hook.
Last Sunday, on its ground, Nantes pulled away to obtain a precious draw against Dax (23-23). Four days before the end of the championship, Stade Nantais, unbeaten at home this season, can still hope to finish second and thus qualify for the Jean-Prat Trophy which will bring together the two best teams from the four pools of Federal 1. The two finalists will be promoted to Pro D2 subject to having the necessary finances.
Pro D2 target by 2022
The leaders want to take the club to another dimension. "We would like there to be a professional rugby team in Nantes for the World Cup which will take place in France in 2023", says the president of the Stade Nantais, Jean-Marc Allègre. By July 1, a professional sports limited company (SASP) or simplified joint stock company (SAS) will be created. Between these two legal entities, the club still hesitates. Arrived in December at the club as general secretary, Gary Poinas, former director of development of the Troyes football club (Ligue 2), should take responsibility in this company.
“If you want to get into Pro D2, creating a company is an obligation. We think it is better to anticipate, explains Pierre Magimel, vice-president of the club. Stade Nantais is now a real team of Federal 1. It's the right time to pass this stage. "" We are counting on a revenue target of 2.2 million euros, compared to 1.4 million today. With subsidies and TV rights, we would have a budget between 4 and 4.5 million euros, says Jean-Marc Allègre. The creation of the company will allow us to raise the funds we lack to go to Pro D2. "
The Vannes example
To develop, Stade Nantais wants to take inspiration from RC Vannes. The Breton club played in Federal 2 in 2006. Season after season, it has established itself as a solid and structured Pro D2 club. "In Vannes, we made a different choice from that of Nantes," explains Christophe Grolleau, former general manager of the club. We waited until we were sure to go up in Pro D2 to create the SASP. Since 2016, we have gone from a budget of 1.6 million euros to a budget of 9 million euros and we have 30 shareholders. "
Who from the stadium?
The Stade Nantais evolves at the Pascal-Laporte stadium, Breil-Malville district, which can accommodate up to 2,700 people. "We regularly exceed 1,500 spectators," says Jean-Marc Allègre. If the club goes up, it does not plan to play in another stadium. It will therefore not evolve at La Beaujoire as had been mentioned when the construction of a second stadium was announced. "It would have been ridiculous," laughs Pierre Magimel. “We have no other outcome than the improvement of Pascal-Laporte. There are solutions that are fairly simple to implement, ”thinks Jean-Marc Allègre.
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