Rugby Australia announces 2024 results at AGM

Rugby Australia has today announced the results for the 2024 financial year at its Annual General Meeting in Sydney following a comprehensive reset of the organisation.

RA enters FY25 on a strong footing after a year of recalibration and transformation ahead of a British and Irish Lions series forecast to generate a record surplus and the optionality to exit the Pacific Equity Partners credit facility opened in late 2023.

Click here to view Rugby Australia’s 2024 Annual Report.

RA brought forward expected proceeds from the Lions tour via the $80 million credit facility to cover the anticipated deficit associated with the one-off costs and investments of the organisational reset in 2024. By opting for the flexibility of a credit facility over a private equity transaction, RA is now positioned to retain the full upside of the once-in-a-generation runway of major events starting with this year’s British and Irish Lions tour.

One-off costs and investments associated with the reset in 2024 included the successful integration of the NSW Waratahs and ACT Brumbies ($10.3m), the costs associated with the voluntary administration and subsequent exit of the Melbourne Rebels from Super Rugby ($5.1m), servicing of the credit facility and depreciation charges ($9.4m), financial injections into women’s rugby (up $2.5m on prior year) and a 16% uplift in Super Rugby funding for the Queensland Reds ($0.6m) and Western Force ($0.6m), as well as a $0.6m increase in Member Union Community Grant funding.

These outlays, combined with the smaller market inbound tours from Georgia and Wales in 2024, resulted in a deficit of $36.8m.

RA now enters an important phase focused on sustainability and growth. An anticipated record surplus in 2025 from the Lions tour will precede the start of a new, improved, five-year broadcast cycle with Nine Entertainment valued at up to $240 million, an uplift of ~40% on the current deal. Australia will then welcome the world to our shores in 2027 and 2029 as hosts of the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups, then again in 2032 with the Brisbane Olympics.

These major revenue events will allow RA to strategically invest in Australian Rugby at all levels, including the thriving community game.

Total player participation across clubs, events and schools rose by almost 15% in 2024 and pushed past the pre-Covid levels of 2019.  Match officials increased by 29%, coaches rose by 9% and the school environment surged by 26%, driven in large part by the successful introduction of Tri Tag Rugby. 

Australia’s Teams in Gold, meanwhile, produced improved performances across the XVs and Sevens, men’s and women’s programs. More than 275,000 spectators attended a Wallabies or Wallaroos Test match in Australia, with Wallabies Tests averaging ~44,000.

The Wallabies improved their year-on-year win percentage by more than 24%, reflected in Stan Sport reporting a 40% increase in viewership for the Autumn Nations Series compared with 2022.

The uplift in Wallabies’ performances preceded the British and Irish Lions tour this year, which is on target to set new attendance records with ticket sales to exceed 500,000, followed by a home Rugby World Cup in 2027.

The Wallaroos won their first international silverware, the WXV2 trophy, to advance to this year’s Rugby World Cup following significant, strategic investments into coaching and player contracting. Wallaroos social media channels grew by 170%, reflecting a positive year for Rugby Australia’s overarching social strategy in which channels grew by 16% to 3.6 million.

The Australian women were crowned SVNS champions after defeating France in the final in Madrid, while the Australian men achieved their highest ever finish at an Olympic Games. Australia was the only nation to advance to the semi-finals at the Paris Olympics in both the men’s and women’s programs. 

Rugby Australia Managing Director & CEO Phil Waugh said Australian Rugby was well positioned following the successful organisational reset.

“Rugby Australia made great progress in 2024 towards building a sustainable, thriving model for Australian Rugby,” Waugh said. “There is still much to do but the pathway to a prosperous future is clear. 

“RA is forecasting a record surplus in 2025 which should provide us the option of exiting the credit facility with PEP. Australian Rugby then enters a new, substantially upweighted five-year broadcast cycle from 2026. And in 2027 and 2029, Australia will welcome the world to our shores for the men’s and women’s editions of our sport’s grandest tournament, the Rugby World Cup.

“These major revenue events will be underpinned by our ‘From Green To Gold’ strategy, which we released in December, accompanied by a comprehensive organisational review, which is currently under way. Once completed, the review will provide RA with the framework to capitalise on this extraordinary runway of marquee series events and tournaments with a fit-for-purpose model and a long-term outlook.”

Rugby Australia Chair Daniel Herbert said the comprehensive organisational reset has “changed the trajectory of Australian Rugby”.

“Australian Rugby united in 2024 to deliver a year of transformation on and off the field,” Herbert said. “The game in Australia has made significant progress over the last 12 months and, while that is no doubt pleasing, we are acutely aware that there is still plenty of work ahead of us for Australian Rugby to realise its full potential.

“Reform of the magnitude Rugby Australia completed in 2024 inevitably requires one-off strategic costs and investments, which are represented in the Annual Report. Those outlays have changed the trajectory of Australian Rugby and placed the game on a strong footing for the future, reflected in the significantly improved five-year broadcast deal with Nine announced last week.

“The continued growth of community and women’s rugby augers well for the future and improved performances across Super Rugby Pacific, Super Rugby Women’s and our Teams in Gold have led to substantial uplift in broadcast and attendance figures. We now look forward to an historic year, highlighted by the tour of the British and Irish Lions, and the women’s Rugby World Cup.”

RA is also pleased to confirm the election of Nathan Sharpe to the position of President and Kathleen Bozanic and Louise Higgins as non-executive Board Directors.

Sharpe – a two-time John Eales medallist, foundation captain of the Western Force and stalwart of 116 Tests for the Wallabies and 162 Super Rugby games for the Queensland Reds and Force – currently serves as a Director at Talisman following leadership positions across Brunel Australasia. He assumes the RA Presidency from Joe Roff, who has concluded his two-year term in the position.

Bozanic and Higgins join the RA Board after Pip Marlow finished her term at the end of 2024.

Bozanic is the Chief Financial Officer and previously served as a Non-Executive Director, of IGO Ltd, an ASX 100 resources company delivering products critical to clean energy. She has also served on the board of Rugby Western Australia since 2020. Higgins is the Executive General Manager Strategy, Transformation and Data at ANZ, having previously served as Managing Director of Suncorp Integration.