Rugby Australia has announced a loss of $9.2 million for 2023 in its annual report, a year after posting profits of $8.2 million.
RA chief executive Phil Waugh said he anticipated another difficult year for the governing body in 2024 before the expected windfall from the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour, with bumper crowds expected across Australia for three Tests and six tour matches.
“From a revenue perspective, 2024 will be another challenging year given we have had to take on the unplanned cost of the Melbourne Rebels’ operations for 2024, as well as additional investments and distributions to Member Unions, Super Rugby clubs, the community game, pathways and Women’s Rugby,” Waugh said.
“We could have reduced costs further for 2024, however this could have had a detrimental long-term effect for the game – it is essential that we set the game up as best we can for the major revenue events on the horizon in 2025, 2027 and 2029.
“Sales to date for the Lions tour have been exceptional, both in our market and in the UK – this once in 12 years event creates the opportunity to repay debt and get over the legacy of COVID-19 that the game is still facing.
“RA is working with the Super Rugby clubs, member unions and RUPA to set up a sustainable financial model for the future, aligned to a new broadcast deal in 2026.”
Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh and chairman Dan Herbert are facing another difficult financial yearCredit: Getty
World Cup blues
RA’s $9.2 million deficit in 2023 is an improvement on previous World Cup years, with losses of $9.5 million and $9.8 million posted in 2019 and 2015 respectively.
In 2023, the Wallabies were also restricted to just two home Tests against Argentina and New Zealand, significantly affecting broadcast revenue, which was down by $14 million from the previous year. Matchday revenue was also down by $25 million from 2022.
RA reported significantly higher costs given it was a World Cup year, with operating expenditure up by $11.5 million.
The tournament was disastrous on and off the field for RA, with Eddie Jones’ Wallabies becoming the first Australian team to fail to reach the quarter-finals of the competition and Waugh subsequently revealing $2.6m in unapproved expenses had been spent during the campaign.
“The over-investment that was unapproved was $2.6m, which covered three main elements, being team costs, staff travel and then player benefits,” Waugh said in March, adding that RA only found out the extent of the excess spending “retrospectively”.
World Rugby grant increase
RA benefited from a substantial World Rugby grant of $31 million representing over 30 per cent of the organisation’s revenue for 2023 and up from the previous grant of $905,000 last year.
The disasterous World Cup in 2023 will live long in the memoryCredit: Getty
Rebels with a financial cause
The Rebels’ future still hangs in the balance, with RA having funded the club to the tune of $3.9 million last year. Regardless of whether the Rebels’ investor group delivers a rescue package, annual funding would still need to be delivered by Waugh and chairman Daniel Herbert. RA has spent $12.5 million on the club in the last three years.
Loan facility
In November, RA announced it would utilise an $80 million credit facility, reportedly with an interest rate of more than 10 percent. The annual report shows that RA have drawn $50 million from that facility.
Broadcast
In the third year of RA’s broadcast deal with Stan Sport and Nine, the World Cup posted average audience figures of almost 450,000 for the final between South Africa and New Zealand, while the Wallabies’ 40-6 group defeat to Wales was the most watched Australian game with an average audience of 363,100.
The average audience for the weekly Saturday night Super Rugby game on free-to-air TV was up 15 per cent on 2022’s average.
Meanwhile, RA reported participation growth across clubs (up 1.7 per cent) and schools (up 2.3 per cent), as well as another strong increase in female participation (up 16 per cent).
More to come.
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