With the inactivity caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the financial implications and economic meltdown, rugby, like most other sports, is feeling the pinch.
It is widely reported that the Australia Rugby Union has had to cut the contracted players’ salaries by 60%. Australia Rugby is on the brink of bankruptcy. The suspension of the Super Rugby season is expected to cost Australia’s four teams – the Brumbies, Melbourne Rebels, NSW Waratahs and Queensland Reds, millions of dollars in lost revenue, money they don’t have. If there are no more Super Rugby games this year — or even a few local derbies – questions will be raised about how clubs can survive financially. Rugby Australia and perhaps the individual franchises will no doubt seek government handouts, but they will need to get in the queue early as not only sport, but the rest of the country is in line
Locally, there is a lot of uncertainty over how 2020 will unfold. The uncertainty is about the unknown, when and how this crisis that has crippled the world will end. When will sport get back to normality? The Currie Cup, June internationals and the Rugby Championship are all scheduled for later this year. Then there is also next year’s British and Irish Lions tour, a -lucrative money-spinner for SA Rugby.
The loss of Super Rugby matches has obviously had an adverse reaction on the revenue, as well as match-day takings. Some of South Africa’s main rivals in New Zealand and England, have announced pay cuts for their players.
South Africa’s blushes have been saved by changing their Springbok contracting model last year. In June 2019 it was announced that SA Rugby would no longer directly contract its players and that all unions and franchises would have a cap on the number of professional players they could contract. It was part of a cost-cutting measure that is bearing fruit in these times of economic uncertainty.
What has also assisted SA Rugby as that all the Springboks contracted to overseas clubs like Handre Pollard, Willie Le Roux, Malcolm Marx, Eben Etzebeth, Cheslin Kolbe and many have salaries paid by their clubs, and that helps to alleviate the financial burden on SA Rugby.
For now, even the franchises are in a stable financial situation. The Bulls have the major financial backing of billionaires Johan Rupert and Patrice Motsepe. The Sharks and the Lions are stable, with huge financial partners. Even the Stormers, with their much-publicised financial struggles in recent times, are in a stable position.
By Maxwell Levine
