{"id":64558,"date":"2021-04-29T08:47:04","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T08:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=64558"},"modified":"2021-04-29T08:58:55","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T08:58:55","slug":"rugby-australia-reveals-brutal-27-1-million-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=64558","title":{"rendered":"Rugby Australia reveals 'brutal' $27.1 million loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rugby Australia has announced a "brutal" loss of $27.1 million for 2020 as COVID-19 wreaked havoc across the business.<\/p>\n

And on a day in which New Zealand Rugby voted in favour of selling a $360 million stake in its commercial rights to US investors<\/a>, RA chairman Hamish McLennan said securing private equity was "critical" for the sport in Australia.<\/p>\n

"We'll look to private equity in the next few months… we've started organising documents, we're off and running in that regard," McLennan said.<\/p>\n

"You're selling a bit of your commercial operations and in a perfect world you wouldn't have to do it. I lament the fact that we have to do it. But I don't fear it…<\/p>\n

"We have absolute alignment (with New Zealand) in terms of how we're viewing the game… It'll be between 10 and 15 per cent (stake for sale), probably 12.5."<\/p>\n

The only place rugby fans can watch every match is Stan Sport. Start your free sport trial now!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

McLennan also expressed support for a reworked Super Rugby competition next year which included two Pacific Island teams.<\/p>\n

RA said COVID-19 had led to a whopping $45.7m reduction in revenue, which in turn caused the organisation to slash $31.2 million from its business.<\/p>\n

"We knew it was going to be brutal," McLennan said, adding that "it was a real possibility" that rugby would go broke last year.<\/p>\n

"We were very nervous… we talked about the game potentially going amateur.<\/p>\n

"The organisation was shaken to its core. It has been an extraordinary job just to survive.<\/p>\n

"We will carry a very weak balance sheet into this year, in what will be a very testing time. This only highlights the importance of external investment as we look to alternate sources of funding to reinvest back into the game…<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Why Aussie rugby stars' names have 'changed'<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> NZ Rugby green lights mega $360 million US sale<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Aussie rugby star's epic 50 Cent hotel stalk<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Has<\/p>\n

"We've made huge sacrifices, but the difficult decisions we were forced to make in 2020 will set Australian rugby up for a sustainable and successful future."<\/p>\n

McLennan added that he was "very" confident that a Wallabies home Test series against France in July would go ahead as planned and said RA was "committed" to a national footprint which included both the Western Force and Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby.<\/p>\n

"I was ecstatic, along with the rest of the rugby family, to welcome the Western Force back into the fold," McLennan said.<\/p>\n

"They, and the Melbourne Rebels, braved a season on the road away from family and friends when the future of the game was at stake. We owe the Force and the Rebels a debt of gratitude."<\/p>\n

\"English<\/p>\n

After RA's annual general meeting the chairman also spruiked the formation of a "formidable" 2027 Rugby World Cup bid board and the impact of a new broadcast agreement with Nine and Stan which had "exceeded our expectations."<\/p>\n

"I'm very excited about what the future has in store for our game in this country, as is everyone that I speak to on the street," McLennan said.<\/p>\n

"The reset button was pressed and we're well on our way to reaping those rewards…<\/p>\n

"The work is not yet done though. We have some incredibly important decisions to make in the near future which will ensure Australian rugby returns to its lofty heights."<\/p>\n

McLennan was re-elected as chairman while Dr Jane Wilson, Karen Penrose and Matthew Hanning were elected to the RA board.<\/p>\n

David Codey replaced Wallabies great Tim Gavin as RA president.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rugby Australia has announced a "brutal" loss of $27.1 million for 2020 as COVID-19 wreaked havoc across the business. And on a day in which […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64558"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64558"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64560,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64558\/revisions\/64560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}