MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Rugby Australia (RA) reported a A$36.80 million ($23.33 million) loss for 2024 on Wednesday after embarking on a costly programme to integrate loss-making Super Rugby teams and spending millions propping up the Melbourne Rebels before their collapse.
The loss adds to a A$9.2m deficit for 2023, when the Wallabies crashed out of the World Cup in France at the group stage, and outstrips the A$27.1m shortfall for 2020 during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the red ink, RA said the result was better than forecast and they were positioned to retain the "full up-side" of this year's British and Irish Lions tour and the coming 2027 World Cup on home soil.
"Rugby Australia made great progress in 2024 towards building a sustainable, thriving model for Australian Rugby," CEO Phil Waugh said in a statement.
"There is still much to do but the pathway to a prosperous future is clear."
RA said it spent more than A$10 million integrating the Canberra-based ACT Brumbies and Sydney-based New South Wales Waratahs under its management and more than A$5 million on the voluntary administration and exit of the Rebels.
RA pulled its support from the indebted Rebels at the end of the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season, leaving Australia with four professional rugby teams.
More than A$9 million was paid to service an A$80 million loan taken out with a private lender in 2023.
RA pinned much of the loss on the Wallabies' July test schedule, which saw them host Wales for a two-match series and Georgia for a one-off test.
"The comparison between England in 2022 and two Wales tests and Georgia was about A$18 million to A$20 million," Waugh told reporters.
Waugh said RA was forecasting a record surplus in 2025 on the back of the Lions tour, which should give it the option of exiting the A$80m loan.
The governing body then enters a new broadcasting deal with Nine Entertainment from 2026 on better terms than the previous deal.
Waugh said RA had decided on a successor for highly-regarded Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt and hoped to announce it imminently.
Australian media have tipped Queensland Reds coach Les Kiss to replace Schmidt, who is stepping down after the Rugby Championship.
"We want to give clarity to the Australian public and we are working as quickly as we can. The next coach will lead us into a home Rugby World Cup in 2027," said Waugh.
($1 = 1.5775 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
