SA Rugby reports minor deficit despite record income

Despite reporting a minor deficit, SA Rugby has reported record broadcasting and sponsorship revenues for 2022.

SA Rugby's member unions were told at Tuesday's Annual General Meeting in Cape Town that the deficit was because of the governing body's considerable investment to gain entry into northern hemisphere competitions.

The country's top franchises now participate in the United Rugby Championship (URC) and European Champions and Challenge Cups. 

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In a press statement, SA Rugby said its group revenues increased significantly to R1.54bn (2021 - R1.28bn) thanks principally to increases in broadcasting (R828m from R654m) and sponsorship (R396m from R222m) income, but the group's pre-tax deficit of R2.62m included expenditure of R330m attributable to participation in the URC and European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) competitions.

The increased broadcasting revenues were in part due to the higher value attributed to the 2022 Springbok calendar, featuring a home series against Wales as well as a full Rugby Championship programme.

However, despite these promising figures, SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer warned that broadcast revenue would be significantly reduced in 2023. This is because in this World Cup year there will be no touring team from the northern hemisphere as well as truncated Rugby Championship.

The governing body said broadcasting revenues were offset against the participation fees being paid by SA Rugby to gain entry into European rugby.

"From being a recipient of nett income from Super Rugby as a founding member of Sanzaar, we are now a nett contributor to European club rugby as our participation costs on the way to once again becoming a