Rugby: 2018-19 turnover of £213.2m for the English Federation, profit of £3.9m

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) posted a turnover of £213.2m (€237.8m) in 2018-19, an increase of 23.7% over the previous year in 2017-18 (£172.4m, €194.6m), indicated the authority in its 2018-19 annual report published on 04/12/2019. "The operating result for 2018-19 is £14.9m (compared to -£24.4m in 2017-18) and the net profit allocated to reserves (after reinvestment in amateur rugby) is £3.9m (compared with a loss of -£30.9m for the previous year)."

"The improvement over the previous year is mainly due to the increase in sponsorship revenue, the increase in the number of international matches played at Twickenham (82,000 places), the reduction in overall investment in rugby and lower overhead costs," explained the body that invested £100.5m (€112m) in rugby (£107.7m in 2017-18), including £65.6m (€73m) for professional rugby and £34.9m (€39m) for amateur rugby in 2018-19.

"Twickenham generates 85% of our revenue, reinvested earnings in English rugby, at all levels. We welcomed 1.2 million people at 22 major events during the year. The number of licensees remained stable…