Rugby Australia releases 2021 Annual Report
Rugby Australia reported a loss of 4.53m for 2021 on revenue of 98.583m. Broadcast revenue rose from 25 to 40m, sponsorship from 15 to 22m. RA’s revenue for 2021 increased by $32.6m or 49% primarily due to a $14m increase in broadcast revenue, a $8mincrease in match revenue and a $7m increase in sponsorship revenue.
In a nutshell, RA’s revenue is dwarfed by NZ Rugby – the Kiwis are bringing in almost twice as much money – and the unions’ broadcast revenue actually appears to be going in different directions.https://t.co/KETcoRfTAJ
— sportsindustry (@footyindustryAU) April 29, 2022
Broadcast
In this our first year of our new relationship, viewership across all professional areas of the game was significantly increased year on year. This was evidenced by an increase of our television audience by an average of 244% on a YoY comparison.
Super Rugby AU’s weekly average cumulative audience was 207,302 across Stan Sport and 9 GEM, with weekly viewing peaking for the Super Rugby AU final. The Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition had an weekly average cumulative audience of 177,432 across Stan Sport and 9 GEM.
The Super Rugby AU Final saw the television audience peak nationally at 464,000 during the dramatic final stages, with the average audience up 232% from the 2020 Final, which was also played between the two sides.
The two Bledisloe Cup matches played in New Zealand recorded higher audience numbers on 9 GEM in 2021 than in 2020 with 420,000 and 452,000 tuning in respectively for the games on free to air broadcast with an equal if not greater audience also tuning in on Stan Sport.
Over the rest of The Rugby Championship series played in Australia, the average cumulative audience per Test was 736,019 on Stan Sport and 9 GEM
Participation
In 2021 junior club XVs registrations were up 13% and senior club XVs registrations were up 14%, when compared to 2020. Senior club XVs registrations are still only at 71% of 2019 registrations, however junior club XVs registrations surpassed 2019 registrations by 20%
Female registrations continued their surge with an overall increase of 28% across club XVs, underpinned by development programs, new competitions and growing media interest.
Participation in club Sevens competitions declined by 16% with uncertainty around COVID-19 related restrictions in NSW and Victoria, however many tournaments were able to take place in 2021 and total registrations in that category increased by 52% in males and 57% in females
Full Report
Rugby Australia reported a loss of 4.53m for 2021 on revenue of 98.583m. Broadcast revenue rose from 25 to 40m, sponsorship from 15 to 22m.https://t.co/nWTgO5GvV1
— sportsindustry (@footyindustryAU) April 29, 2022
