New Zealand Rugby Considers Scrapping Super Rugby Pacific to Plug $27m Hole
New Zealand Rugby is forecasting a $27 million loss for the current financial year and expects to lose a further $66 million between 2027 and 2031, according to the New Zealand Herald.
The projected losses would burn through more than half of the governing body's $175 million cash reserves, built up since the 2022 private equity deal with Silver Lake. The forecast follows accumulated losses of $68 million between 2022 and 2026, the Herald reported.
What is driving the losses
The Middle East conflict has pushed up travel costs and put off potential new sponsors, the Herald reported. Qatar Airways did not sign on as naming-rights sponsor for either the newly launched Rugby Championship or Rugby's Greatest Rivalry.
International broadcast rights have also fallen short of expectations.
What happens at Thursday's summit
Super Rugby clubs, NPC unions, New Zealand Rugby and the Rugby Players' Association are due to meet in Wellington on Thursday.
The gathering is being described as a summit, though the Herald reported it functions more as a consultation to gauge how each party wants the professional game to look.
New Zealand Rugby wants to strip about $20 million a year from running costs across its elite men's competitions, Super Rugby Pacific and the NPC. The body wants a decision on the competition's future by the end of this year.
The options on the table
Three models have been put forward for discussion, the Herald reported. One would merge Super Rugby clubs with their host provincial unions in the main centres, cutting duplicated back-office and services.
That option follows a recommendation from the Men's Pathway and Competitions Project completed last year.
A second option would go further. ESPN reported that a proposal to replace both Super Rugby Pacific and the NPC entirely with a new domestic competition, likely of eight to ten teams, is also among the models being discussed on Thursday.
A third model is also reportedly under consideration, though its details remain unconfirmed.
The state of Super Rugby's finances
Super Rugby Pacific has grown its total income by $27 million over the past four years since the competition was reshaped in 2022, the Herald reported. But costs have climbed just as fast.
New Zealand clubs have rarely turned a profit.
Super Rugby Pacific is forecast to post accumulated losses of $11 million across 2025 and 2026, according to the Herald, a key reason New Zealand Rugby wants a decision on the competition's structure locked in before the year ends.