Rugby: NZRU tipped to unveil big loss

NZRU chief executive Steve Tew. Photo / Getty Images

The New Zealand Rugby Union will announce a significant financial loss - believed to be in the region of $15 million - for the 2009 year at its AGM in Wellington today.

The loss has been widely predicted, but the exact figures and reasons behind the loss are being kept under wraps until midday.

However, it is no secret that the global recession and the cost of investing in the Rugby World Cup have contributed to the NZRU's negative balance sheet.

Another factor behind the loss, which has been widely anticipated, is a reduction in match-day income.

This is largely the result of lower-than-budgeted-for crowds, especially in Christchurch last June when the All Blacks played Italy in front of a paltry crowd of 19,000.

Although capacity at the ground was reduced because of construction of the Deans Stand, there were still 7000 tickets unsold.

The Bledisloe Cup test in Japan also failed to reap the expected financial returns.

The NZRU turned a profit of $366,000 in 2008 and although last year's loss is not expected to be the last, a rosier financial picture is being predicted in the medium to long term. Principal sponsorship partner adidas is committed to its deal with the NZRU until 2019 and the recently signed broadcasting deal with Sky Television runs until the end of 2015.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand Maori Rugby board held its AGM in Wellington last night.

A feature of the report prepared for its delegates was an increase in the number of NZRU registered players, from 33,258 in 2008 to 34,155 in 2009. That figure represented a slight drop in the percentage of registered players who are Maori, from 23.7 per cent to 23.5 per cent.

Board chairman Wayne Peters said the figures underlined the important contribution Maori made to rugby in New Zealand and the "hard work being done in Maori communities to deliver the game".

His report to the board made no mention of the lingering controversy over whether an apology was owed to Maori from the NZRU because of racially prejudiced selections that toured South Africa during the apartheid years.

Peters did refer, however, to the fact that there was no Maori team in 2009, the year before the side's centenary.

He did mention the NZRU's decision to enter the Junior All Blacks in the Pacific Nations Cup instead of entering a New Zealand Maori team, but said attempts were made to arrange a game against South Africa in South Africa, which "unfortunately did not eventuate".

"As a result, the New Zealand Maori did not assemble in 2009. This was very disappointing to both the board and the wider Maori rugby community."