Bath biggest spenders in English Prem, report finds

Bath biggest spenders in English Prem, report findsImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Bath ended a 29-year wait for a Premiership trophy and clinched a historic treble in the 2024-25 campaign ByLorraine McKennaBBC Sport JournalistPublished8 minutes agoBath spent the most money of all 10 clubs in the Prem in their treble-winning season of 2024-25, a report published by Prem Rugby has found. The reigning league champions invested around £8.5m into their squad, including £6.4m permitted under the salary cap limit, plus deductions for credits and their excluded player - a player who sits outside the cap - Scotland fly-half Finn Russell.Saracens, Harlequins, Sale and Leicester also spent up to, or close to, the salary cap limit, which returned to £6.4m last season following three years set at £5m.The average salary in the competition is £191,000 per year. In March, clubs agreed to introduce a 'salary floor' - a minimum amount each team must spend on players' wages - from next season in an attempt to keep the top flight as closely fought as possible.Each club will be obliged to spend £5.4m a season on talent.Prem clubs agree a minimum spend on player wagesPublished26 MarchThe salary cap - a £6.4m limit on squad spending, albeit with 'credits' on offer for home-grown talent and other factors which stretch the restriction to £7.8m - will remain the same.Fly-half remains the highest paid position in the Prem on £260,000, with back row second at £192,000. The lowest paid position is wing on £132,000, with prop on slightly more on £144,000.Like Russell, Sale's George Ford, Marcus Smith at Harlequins and Saracens' Maro Itoje are among the excluded players, with their average salary £533,000. Bottom side Newcastle spent the least of all clubs and failed to reach £4m overall. "The cap continues to be supported by all and it is central to driving the competitiveness of the Prem," chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor said."With...