Sale Sharks eye talks with Premier League club over potential stadium use

Several clubs are embracing the concept of playing at major venues. Saracens take on Northampton Saints at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, while Gloucester meet Leicester Tigers at Villa Park as part of their Big Day Out.

Bristol Bears will also face Harlequins at the Millennium Stadium, although that is not exclusively a football ground.

Sale previously explored a similar idea 15 years ago, when they moved an Aviva Premiership fixture against London Irish to the then-named Reebok Stadium, home of Bolton Wanderers.

Since then, however, securing a suitable large football venue at the right time has proved challenging, despite the number of top-flight football clubs in the north-west.

Sanderson spoke of his desire for Sale to follow suit and host one of these high-profile matches.

"Yeah we do. We spoke about it four or five years ago when the purse strings were a little tighter, it wasn't considered a profitable or feasible enough venture. More recently, we've struggled to get the pitches, football teams won't give them up.

"[Manchester] City don't need our money, [Manchester] United won't let you play until the end of the season and the Reebok Stadium for it's location, I don't think was a worthwhile opportunity to get crowds from our locality for the most part.

"We are looking at it, we want it, it's good exposure and if we're alright for taking a bit of a hit for one or two years like Quins and Sarries, by the third or fourth year you start to fill it out and get a profit but it takes a couple of years of speculating."

One potential option is Everton’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium, which has recently opened and is due to host its first rugby union fixture this summer when England play Fiji. The venue has already staged a rugby league Ashes match between England and Australia.

"I've heard it's really good, England are playing there. That's obviously a pitch for hire so we did mention that the other day, we'll have a look at that."

He also emphasised the broader value of such events in expanding the club’s reach beyond traditional rugby audiences.

"Every team needs it. Every team needs more interest, more innovation to get investment and multiple streams of it, that's one of them, putting a big game on. I totally agree with you, it's a little bit above my pay grade, but it's something that I'll mention and mention again."