New Zealand Rugby still not breaking even; model 'not sustainable'

NEWS: New Zealand Rugby is making less of a loss, but the financial model is still ‘not sustainable’.

NZR recorded sizeable losses in yearly accounts released Thursday, with chief executive Mark Robinson saying its commercial model was “not sustainable” despite a contentious private equity cash injection.

Robinson pointed to high fixed costs, including player wages, as the governing body booked losses of NZ$19.5 million in its annual report for 2024.

Robinson said the current financial model was “not sustainable” and there was “much work to do to get the shape of our game right”.

NZR oversees the powerhouse All Blacks men’s team, a highly lucrative global sporting brand in its own right.

But critics say they have not capitalised on their marketability in the way other leading brands in sports such as Formula One and English football have done.

Sponsorship deals and broadcast rights helped to put US$170 million in the governing body’s coffers last year, the accounts showed, which was a “record level of income”.

However foreign exchange turbulence and investment in other areas of the business turned this into a loss.

“New Zealand Rugby retains an incredibly strong balance sheet, which is vital for rugby in New Zealand and its ability to weather any major shocks,” said chair and former All Black captain David Kirk.

US private equity firm Silver Lake secured a US$120 million stake in New Zealand Rugby and the All Blacks in 2022.

Under that deal, Silver Lake, a fund manager specialising in private equity investments and whose growing stable of sports interests includes Manchester City, took a 5.8 percent stake in a new commercial entity operated by NZR.

NZR was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, and its provinces have been losing money for several years as spectator numbers fall.

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