Exeter Chiefs made a loss of more than £6.3m in the year they won the Champions Cup and Premiership titles.
Covid-19 was responsible for many of the club’s matches being played behind closed doors in June 2020 and June 2021.
Sandy Park’s conferencing facility at Exeter – which helped finance the rugby side of Exeter’s club – was closed for nearly the entire period because of the pandemic.
Rugby income fell from £15.7m to £9.5m while Sandy Park’s income dropped £1.25m to just £127,762.
Directors are hopeful that the Covid-19 restrictions being lifted will allow them to return the club’s profitability within the next 18-24months.
Exeter have seen a number of high-profile players such as Jonny Hill, Sam Skinner and Tom O’Flaherty announce they will leave the club this summer with a reduced salary cap of £5m coming in.
Before the pandemic Exeter were one of the few profitable clubs in the Premiership but made a loss of just over £2.23m from June 2019 to June 2020 when the pandemic first took hold.