A bigger-than-expected windfall from the British and Irish Lions tour last year fuelled a record payout for Rugby Australia, which is set to announce a $70.8 million profit on Wednesday.
News of the bumper surplus came as the Wallabies also received encouraging injury updates on two star players, prop Angus Bell (foot) and five-eighth Carter Gordon (knee), who have been cleared of season-ending injuries and are expected to be available for Tests in July.
RA will reveal a $70.8m profit for the year ending December 31 at its annual general meeting on Wednesday in Sydney, marking a dramatic turnaround from 2024 when the national union posted a $36.8m loss.
It is the largest profit recorded by RA, and by some margin. The previous biggest surplus was $32.9m in 2003, when Australia last hosted the World Cup.
With 40,000 travelling fans, the British and Irish Lions tour last year was always forecast to deliver a massive financial boost to Rugby Australia, but the hugely popular tour outperformed early predictions by as much as 40 per cent. Combined with sold-out Tests in the Rugby Championship, RA’s total revenue was $262.2 million, more than double the previous year.
Including the Lions’ tour matches, almost 760,000 attended 13 international fixtures last year. Four of seven Test matches were sold out, including at the MCG and Accor Stadium, and Wallabies crowds averaged 53,308.
Match-day revenue and lucrative midweek events staged during the Lions tour, was the biggest driving force in pushing RA well past initial forecasts of $50m profit for the year.
The profit is over three times bigger than in 2013, the last time Australia hosted a Lions tour. The 2025 tour was, for the first time, organised under a joint venture agreement between RA and the Lions, which saw the two entities share profits from most aspects of the tour.
RA is also debt-free, having last year used the Lions windfall to repay $63.5 million owed to Pacific Equity Partners.
With $31.1m in cash in the bank, and another $100m expected from hosting the World Cup next year, RA are developing plans for a Future Fund to generate sustainable revenue for the game.
The idea is for the Future Fund to be similar to the one built by the Australian Olympic Committee with $88.5m after the Sydney Olympics. In 2025, the fund’s net assets had a value of over $200m – and that’s after distributing more than $195m to the AOC to help send athletes to summer and winter Games.
Former ARU boss John O’Neill sought to do something similar in 2003 but was rebuffed by the states, and the windfall was squandered within a few years.
By coming in 40 per cent bigger than expected, RA’s $70.8m profit in 2025 will give RA boss Phil Waugh the scope to put aside more money for the fund than anticipated. Waugh and RA chair Daniel Herbert have repeatedly vowed to break RA’s feast-and-famine financial cycle and reliance on big revenue events such as Lions tours and World Cups.
Meanwhile, concerns about Bell and Gordon both suffering potentially season-ending injuries have been allayed before the Wallabies’ 2025 campaign.
Bell suffered a foot injury playing for Ulster against Leinster in Ireland at the weekend, and though it was not the same foot the Wallabies prop had previously required surgery, there were fears the 25-year-old had done major damage in the form of an Achilles tendon or Lisfranc injury. Both require months out of the game.
But scans in Belfast revealed positive news, according to sources familiar with the matter, and Ulster are even hopeful Bell will be back for them this season. The URC finishes in June.
That, in turn, has given Wallabies officials confidence that Bell will be available for the Tests against Ireland, France and Italy in July.
The news was also positive on Gordon, who suffered a knee injury playing for the Reds in their win over the Crusaders on April 11.
The Wallabies star was later seen in a knee brace and on crutches, and concerns about a major ligament injury swirled when the Reds said Gordon needed to visit specialists.
The Reds provided an update on Tuesday, saying Gordon had suffered a “minor” knee cartilage injury and they are hopeful the No.10 will be back on deck soon. The Reds confirmed they expected Gordon back before the end of the Super Rugby Pacific season.
Watch every match of Super Rugby Pacific live and exclusive on Stan Sport.
Iain Payten is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.