RFU to cut investment in sport by £13m

The Rugby Football Union is slashing overall investment in the sport by up to £13million after a grim financial report confirmed revenue around the English game has fallen for a second consecutive year.

The governing body invested a record £107.7million in the English game over the past 12 months, but has predicted “growing uncertainty” and “challenging times” ahead.

RFU bosses, who said 54 people had now left after a round of redundancies, declared an operating loss of £30.9m for the year, but broke even overall thanks to a cash injection from the restructuring of a Twickenham hospitality business. The joint venture with Compass brought a one-off profit of £31.6m and was banked in the RFU’s reserves.

Overall, the RFU’s annual income fell by £12.5m last year as a result of two fewer matches than normal being played at Twickenham. Investment in the professional and amateur game is now likely to slip to around £100m next year, and then fall to £95m by 2020.
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