Bath Rugby were the Gallagher Prem’s biggest spenders in their treble-winning season of 2024/25 after the salary expenditure of all 10 clubs was published for the first time.
The reigning Prem champions invested in the region of £8.5million into their playing squad, comprising of the £6.4million permitted under the salary cap limit plus deductions for credits and their excluded player, in this instance Scotland star Finn Russell.
The Blue, Black and White also invested significantly more into their academy, spending out close to £1m, more than double their West Country rivals Exeter Chiefs, Bristol Bears and Gloucester.
Saracens, Harlequins, Sale and Leicester also spent up to, or close to, the salary cap limit on their senior squad and are not far behind Bath in overall expenditure, according to the latest salary cap report published by Prem Rugby.
Basement club Newcastle outlaid the least and failed to hit £4million overall, while Bristol were the next lowest with an overall cash spend of £6.4million, falling £1million short of the salary cap limit.
From next season, a salary cap floor of £5.4million is being introduced with the aim of improving minimum standards. Only Newcastle were below that figure in 2024-25.
The salary cap returned to £6.4million last season after three years at £5m, a reduced figure which was brought in to combat the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
While a club must operate under the cap limit, they can earn credits for homegrown players, injured players and international players, while their excluded player sits outside the cap.
Bath Rugby’s Santiago Carreras and Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan (Photo by Bob Bradford – CameraSport via Getty Images)