Springboks Making Money Again; SA Rugby Posts R2-Million Profit

CAPE TOWN – South African Rugby has turned a corner and recorded a small post-tax profit of R2-million ($141,122.35) in 2018 thanks to aggressive cost-cutting and an increase in revenue, reversing heavy losses from the previous two years.

SA Rugby managed to keep its expenses in line with projections, but enjoyed a 9.5 percent rise in revenue to R1.3-billion on the back of broadcasting rights, sponsorships and Test match gate receipts.

It reversed losses of R15.7 million in 2016 and R62.4-million in 2017 and comes despite a net cost of R60 million for entering the Cheetahs and Southern Kings into the PRO14 competition with teams from Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Italy.

“There have been some hard decisions taken over the past three years to reach this position and there is hard work still to be done,” SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Some of the measures implemented caused significant discomfort; however, we believe the positive impact of implementing these measures will be realised in the future.

“We have made progress in the past year, but we know we are still some distance from achieving an adequate financial standing.”

Roux confirmed that the budget for the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup campaign had been signed off, but that this might affect funding other areas of the business.

“The budget for the 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign is secured and signed off but we will continue to look for savings in peripheral activities,” Roux said.

(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Ken Ferris)