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Rugby's secret windfall
27 February 2005
By GREG FORD
The New Zealand Rugby Union will pocket $10 million when the All Blacks appear at the next World Cup.
The payment will be made at the tournament in France in 2007 and at each subsequent World Cup.
The International Rugby Board has kept the deal secret for a year and the revelation looks certain to upset Pacific nations such as Fiji, Samoa and Tonga who will miss out on the windfall.
The IRB has promised a multi-pound payment to New Zealand, its Sanzar partners Australia and South Africa, the six European countries who compete in the annual Six Nations tournament and Argentina.
It is likely to lead to All Blacks wanting their share of the money.
The payment is essentially an appearance fee to guarantee the participation of top-tier rugby nations that are unhappy at not getting a slice of the tournament's massive profits.
It leaked into the public domain late last week during a Scottish government inquiry into the woes of its Rugby Union. The inquiry uncovered the planned IRB payment.
NZRU chairman Jock Hobbs said his organisation was not trying to keep anything from the public but rather the "decision was made by the IRB and it was up to them to decide whether to announce it or not . . . now that it's out I can confirm it," he said.
Fiji, Samoa and Tonga are among countries to miss out on the payment. This raises the potential anomaly that an island nation could win the World Cup and get less than a team that qualifies for the payment but fails to reach the knock-out stages.
The development also looks set to inject added spice into negotiations between the New Zealand Rugby Players' Association and the NZRU.
The two became embroiled in a standoff prior to the last World Cup in Australia in 2003 when the association argued it should receive some of the tournament profits. The union agreed to pay players bonuses for each win.
The parties are thrashing out a new employment agreement and will not comment during negotiations.
Association chief executive Rob Nichol was unaware of the IRB payment until told of it by the Sunday Star-Times yesterday.
"We are surprised the (IRB) decision was made behind closed doors," Nichol said.
Hobbs conceded the issue would interest the association.
"It's possible they may be interested in the money but we hope the new collective agreement will include issues like World Cup bonus payments and have agreement on those issues for future reference."
New Zealand has long argued around the IRB boardroom table that it should be compensated for its participation in the cup where the All Blacks are always a headline team. Until now the IRB has pocketed the multi million dollar profits the tournament generates.
"So the payment should be seen in that context," Hobbs said. "We are being compensated for the tests we would have otherwise played at that time. There is still some way to go before we get to the stage where we have an agreed model on revenue sharing for the tests and tournaments schedule. But this brings us another step closer and we are making progress."
The NZRU's coffers are full.
Foreign exchange earnings have allowed the union to build a $50m reserves fund and it's expected the union will break the $100m revenue mark for the first time in its next set of annual accounts.
Hobbs said no decision had been made on what to do with the windfall.
27 February 2005
By GREG FORD
The New Zealand Rugby Union will pocket $10 million when the All Blacks appear at the next World Cup.
The payment will be made at the tournament in France in 2007 and at each subsequent World Cup.
The International Rugby Board has kept the deal secret for a year and the revelation looks certain to upset Pacific nations such as Fiji, Samoa and Tonga who will miss out on the windfall.
The IRB has promised a multi-pound payment to New Zealand, its Sanzar partners Australia and South Africa, the six European countries who compete in the annual Six Nations tournament and Argentina.
It is likely to lead to All Blacks wanting their share of the money.
The payment is essentially an appearance fee to guarantee the participation of top-tier rugby nations that are unhappy at not getting a slice of the tournament's massive profits.
It leaked into the public domain late last week during a Scottish government inquiry into the woes of its Rugby Union. The inquiry uncovered the planned IRB payment.
NZRU chairman Jock Hobbs said his organisation was not trying to keep anything from the public but rather the "decision was made by the IRB and it was up to them to decide whether to announce it or not . . . now that it's out I can confirm it," he said.
Fiji, Samoa and Tonga are among countries to miss out on the payment. This raises the potential anomaly that an island nation could win the World Cup and get less than a team that qualifies for the payment but fails to reach the knock-out stages.
The development also looks set to inject added spice into negotiations between the New Zealand Rugby Players' Association and the NZRU.
The two became embroiled in a standoff prior to the last World Cup in Australia in 2003 when the association argued it should receive some of the tournament profits. The union agreed to pay players bonuses for each win.
The parties are thrashing out a new employment agreement and will not comment during negotiations.
Association chief executive Rob Nichol was unaware of the IRB payment until told of it by the Sunday Star-Times yesterday.
"We are surprised the (IRB) decision was made behind closed doors," Nichol said.
Hobbs conceded the issue would interest the association.
"It's possible they may be interested in the money but we hope the new collective agreement will include issues like World Cup bonus payments and have agreement on those issues for future reference."
New Zealand has long argued around the IRB boardroom table that it should be compensated for its participation in the cup where the All Blacks are always a headline team. Until now the IRB has pocketed the multi million dollar profits the tournament generates.
"So the payment should be seen in that context," Hobbs said. "We are being compensated for the tests we would have otherwise played at that time. There is still some way to go before we get to the stage where we have an agreed model on revenue sharing for the tests and tournaments schedule. But this brings us another step closer and we are making progress."
The NZRU's coffers are full.
Foreign exchange earnings have allowed the union to build a $50m reserves fund and it's expected the union will break the $100m revenue mark for the first time in its next set of annual accounts.
Hobbs said no decision had been made on what to do with the windfall.
