RFU defend bonus pay-outs after record £37.9m losses

A lack of matches at Twickenham have contributed to the Rugby Football Union's reduced revenues

The Rugby Football Union has announced unprecedented operating losses of £37.9m in their accounts covering the 12 months to June 2024.

England's men have played only four matches at Twickenham in that period, with the Rugby World Cup in France wiping out the autumn internationals, while there were three away games in their Six Nations schedule.

England's women's team played one match - an 88-10 win over Ireland in front of 48,778 fans - at Twickenham during the time covered by the accounts.

A lack of money-spinning home fixtures means that the RFU always plans for a loss in a men's Rugby World Cup year, but the figure for 2023 dwarfs the £10.8m operating losses sustained in 2019.

The union's previous biggest annual loss was £30.9m in 2018.

Despite the losses, the RFU's overall performance has triggered a significant bonus for chief executive Bill Sweeney.

Sweeney's basic pay of £742,000 was boosted by £358,000 as part of a "long-term incentive plan". In total, he was paid £1.1m.

“During the pandemic, the executive team took deeper and longer salary cuts than the rest of the organisation along with a reduced bonus," said Tom Ilube, chair of the RFU board.

"The long-term incentive plan, put in place post Covid, recognised the material and voluntary reduction in remuneration, despite an exceptional increase in workload while also incentivising the executive team to remain in post to deliver against challenging multi-year targets.

"The targets included revenue growth, cost control and underlying profit, stretch targets were also in place in relation to other measures including performance and participation."

Former chief executive Steve Brown stepped down from the role in November 2018 just before the announcement of £30.9m losses, although he denied that his decision was prompted by the union’s financial results.

The RFU's latest accounts do not include the sponsorship deal that the RFU struck with German insurance giant Allianz in August to rename their home ground in Twickenham for 10 years.

Sweeney has said that the agreement is worth “well over £100m”.

The RFU says it has been affected by rising costs of running a business, steep utility prices and the after-effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The Rugby World Cup revenue impacts we see in this financial year were anticipated, planned for and they are in line with expectations," added Ilube.

While the RFU has substantial cash reserves, it has already earmarked those for a £500m redevelopment of Twickenham planned for around 2027.

With Allianz Stadium providing the RFU with 90% of its revenue, the RFU has applied to increase the number of non-rugby events staged at its headquarters.

It has launched a consultation over the possibility of increasing the limit on the number of music concerts held there each year from three to 15.

The bid would need to be approved by the local council.