Scottish Rugby posts £11.3m loss, eyes profit in 2027

Murrayfield Stadium, the home of Scottish Rugby

Scottish Rugby has posted a loss of £11.3m for the year ending 30 June 2024, despite generating a record £73.9m, which included revenue from a series of Taylor Swift concerts at Murrayfield.

Ticket sales totalled £16.4m, down from £23.7m, with no autumn Tests during a World Cup year, while there were only two home matches in the Six Nations.

The figures include an additional month, having run to the end of May in 2023, and exceptional items of £1m "to cover restructuring and redundancy costs factored in".

Thirteen months ago, the reported loss was £10.5m.

The announcement from the governing body predicts a loss in the region of £3.8m for the next set of accounts, followed by a break-even position in financial year 2025-26 and a return to profit in the following year.

Departed chief executive Mark Dodson was paid £887,000, with his successor Alex Williamson due to take up the position early next year.

When announcing 35 roles were at risk of redundancy on 1 July, Scottish Rugby had anticipated losses of £10.6m.

"There is cause for optimism going forward," said Scottish Rugby chair, Professor Lorne Crerar. "The Scottish Rugby Ltd board is making steady progress through its financial reset programme."

US pop star Swift played three record-breaking sold out shows at Murrayfield in June.

Oasis will play two nights at the Edinburgh stadium in August next year.