{"id":121876,"date":"2025-09-05T23:50:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T23:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/121876\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T23:50:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T23:50:07","slug":"rugby-australia-is-in-a-strong-financial-position-how-should-they-use-that-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/121876\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby Australia is in a strong financial position. How should they use that money?"},"content":{"rendered":"

But even if they\u2019ve banked \u201conly\u201d $40 million, that will grow significantly in 2027, when the Rugby World Cup is expected to bring in a reported $100 million \u2014 a conservative number, especially if the Wallabies continue to improve.<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s $140 million in the bank, returning $7 million a year if handed to a half-decent investment manager \u2014 with that money ideally ring-fenced for reinvestment into the game without touching the capital.<\/p>\n

\"British<\/p>\n

British and Irish Lions supporters helped the bottom line at Rugby Australia.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong<\/p>\n

These calculations are based on Waugh and Herbert getting the rest of the business to break even by 2028, but the possibilities are already clear.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s nothing short of a generational opportunity, and there are three areas where the money could – and should – go.<\/p>\n

1. The grassroots<\/p>\n

Granted, this is something of a catch-all phrase, but the opportunity to do something meaningful here is outstanding. This would be like a government bond\u2013type investment for RA \u2014 rock-solid, predictable returns. If you put $50,000 into a rugby club that needs it, or a well-run participation program, you\u2019re building the next generation of fans.<\/p>\n

Grassroots funding alone isn\u2019t the answer \u2014 because, whether we like it or not, high performance (the Wallabies) drives most of the revenue \u2014 but this really has to be high on the list of priorities.<\/p>\n

Take a look at the latest Wallabies team release<\/a>: 12 different clubs were represented in the starting XV to face Argentina. This is where it all begins.<\/p>\n

2. The \u201cthird tier\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, this old chestnut. But before any debate starts, a degree of realism must be introduced when it comes to costs – otherwise we\u2019re just flailing around in the dark.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not an apples-to-apples comparison, but the Herald understands that when NZ Rugby commissioned a report into its competitions and pathways, the annual cost of the 14-team, 13-week NPC in New Zealand was calculated at about NZ$36 million (AU$32 million), with player payments the biggest expenditure \u2014 around NZ$15 million.<\/p>\n

That number is clearly prohibitive in the Australian context \u2014 it\u2019s just not going to happen on that scale. And even the Kiwis can\u2019t make the numbers work at present, with the competition reportedly running at a multi-million-dollar shortfall each year.<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/p>\n

Tom Lynagh with his man of the match medal after Queensland beat the Blues in April.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

That said, the new Super Rugby Australia competition starting this month points to the dire need for Australian players to get more quality rugby under their belts during the void that follows Super Rugby Pacific.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

Third-tier investment would be like buying equities \u2014 a bit riskier, but the returns could be enormous over the long term. Can Super Rugby Australia be grown and extended over time?<\/p>\n

3. A fifth Super team in Melbourne or Western Sydney<\/p>\n

It all makes perfect sense, doesn\u2019t it? Tapping into the talent-rich area of Western Sydney, or returning to sports-mad Melbourne with its significant corporate backers.<\/p>\n

But this would be the equivalent of a crypto investment for RA \u2014 just because many people tell you it\u2019s a good idea doesn\u2019t make it so. Running a Super Rugby team is an expensive business, as the forensic analysis into the Melbourne Rebels showed last year.<\/p>\n

The Rebels\u2019 costs were between $13\u2013$15 million a year, with RA on the hook for more than half of that.<\/p>\n

You can already see the sales pitch for Western Sydney: Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii as the face and inaugural captain. But unless a rugby-loving billionaire appears \u2014 or there\u2019s an exponential increase in broadcast revenue \u2014 this is high-risk territory.<\/p>\n

Waugh was a hard man to get past as a player: a rugged defender on the gainline. As an administrator, he\u2019ll need to bring similar resilience to his new role as the gatekeeper of Australian rugby\u2019s replenished bank account.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Watch all the action from the 2025 Rugby Championship on Stan Sport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But even if they\u2019ve banked \u201conly\u201d $40 million, that will grow significantly in 2027, when the Rugby World…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121877,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-121876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}