THE Dragons have a week left to the deadline to agree a deal with the Welsh Rugby Union over going into private ownership.
The four professional sides and the governing body thrashed out a new six-year funding agreement at the end of March.
One condition was that the Rodney Parade club will no longer be owned by the WRU and Dragons chairman David Buttress, who has put together a consortium, was given until July to complete a deal.
There were rumours that more time had been allowed but that has been dismissed by Buttress.
“There is no extension, we have eight days left. We are working hard on it,” he Tweeted in reply to a supporter on Thursday night.
The Argus understands that the Dragons remain very hopeful of an agreement but there is still plenty work to be done and the clock is ticking.
It could go to the wire but there is no need for everything to be sorted by next Friday, both parties would just need to sign a heads of terms agreement and then the due diligence process can take place.
The deadline has focused minds and several meetings have been held this week with proposals and counterproposals getting closer to each other.
However, the Union are also under pressure from the other professional clubs – Cardiff, the Ospreys and Scarlets – to get a good deal given that the trio are feeling the pinch and cutting budgets.
If there is no deal then it doesn’t necessarily mean that the Dragons, who would remain under WRU ownership, are doomed.
It would be down to the Professional Rugby Board and the governing body’s new chief executive and chairman to decide the future structure of the pro game and how many teams there should be.
On the sporting front it has been business as usual for the Dragons with the squad back in pre-season training and head coach Dai Flanagan looking to recruit three more players for the coming campaign, which gets under way in October due to the World Cup.
The ownership saga at the Dragons has dragged on with Buttress initially scuppered by the coronavirus pandemic.
The entrepreneur and co-founder of Just Eat UK has been vocal in his desire to be privately owned and remains committed despite a frustratingly long process.
“It’s clear to me and others involved that taking the club private is a passion project and not in any way a rational, financially-driven one,” he told the Argus last December.
“Let’s be blunt, if it was then the amount of time and difficulty of this process would have led me to walk away in any other area of my business life.
“This is a passion project and we are as committed to it now as we were before Covid.
“Does everything in Welsh rugby take far too much time? Yes, it does. Have I come to accept that? Yes, I’m afraid.”
The governing body increased their 50 per cent share of the Dragons in the summer of 2017 and bought the historic nine-acre site from Newport RFC in the process.
They paid £2.85million for Rodney Parade, wiped off an existing £900,000 loan and gave the Black and Ambers a cash sum of £600,000.
Newport RFC now play the majority of their games at Spytty Park due to staging costs at their historic home, where they played three times last season.
Rodney Parade is shared by the Dragons and League Two Newport County AFC, who are close to signing a new 10-year lease.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here