Mike's Minute: Despite record revenue, NZR is still losing money

In the NZR press release yesterday, Chairman David Kirk and CEO Mark Robinson did their best to infer that life financially for the sport is sensational. 

Despite the fact it isn't. 

They lost money, almost $20 million. And they lost money the year before that as well. 

Kirk ran the line that it was not a cash loss and that they had $170-ish million in reserves. 

They also spruiked the fact that they were pulling in record revenue. 

Now, I am a conservative when it comes to money. The fact they pulled in record revenue and still lost money is your real news, because if you can't make dough when you're raking it in, your model is broken. 

Mark Robinson admitted as much by saying "there was further work needed to achieve a sustainable financial model". 

This is no different to your household budget. 

You had a pay rise, brought some good coin into the house, but you are still not getting ahead. Then you reassure yourself that although you got a pay rise, but spent it all and then some, don't worry – we still have the savings account. 

The trouble for people like Kirk and Robinson is everyone is an expert. We all run rugby and, in a way, that is a good thing. We are not short of interested parties. 

But what you can't argue with is the market rugby plays in. The global sports market is booming. The money out there for elite sport is eye-watering and NZR's revenue uptick indicates they might be seeing a bit of that. 

But the simple truth is if you can't bank the buck in the golden years, you will be killed in the lean ones. 

The experts who text me will tell you Robinson is a fool, women's rugby is a drain, and the provincial unions are run by people called Bruce who still drink handles of beer every Friday night with their shirt fronts hanging out. 

But what all of that florid verbiage from the well-intentioned doesn’t address is the really big important question. 

If you can't make money from your national game, either no sport can make money (which we know not to be true), or something is wrong with the way the national game is run. 

If you're still in the red when it's raining money and your press releases have a desperation about them, someone needs to be held to account. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I guess that is what press releases are for. And
in the Rugby Union press release yesterday, Chairman David Kirk
and the CEO Mark Robinson did their best to infer
that life financially for the sport is sensational despite the
fact it isn't. They lost money almost twenty million dollars
and they lost money the year before that and the
year before that as well. Kirk ran the line that
it was not a cash loss and they had one

(00:22):
hundred and seventy million ish in reserves. They also spooked
the fact that they were pulling in record revenue. Now
I'm a conservative when it comes to money. The fact
they pulled in record revenue and still lost money is
your real news because if you can't make dough when
you're raking it in, your model's broken. Mark Robinson admitted
as much by saying, quote, there was further work needed

(00:43):
to achieve a sustainable financial model. This is no different
to your household budget. You get a pay rise, brought
some good coin into the house, but you're still not
getting ahead. And then you reassure yourself that although you
did get a pay rise, but spend it all and
then some don't worry. We've still got the savings account. Now.
The trouble for some people like Kirk and Robinson is
everyone's an expert. We all want to run rugby, and
in a way that's a good thing. I suppose we're

(01:05):
not short of interested parties. But what you can't argue
with is the market rugby plays in the global sports
market is booming. The money out there for elite sport
is eyewatering. Their revenue uptick indicates they might be seeing
a little bit of that, But the simple truth is
you can't bank the buck in the golden days. If
you can't do that, you're going to get killed in
the lean ones. The experts who text me will tell

(01:26):
you Robinson's a fall, women's rugby is a train. The
provincial unions are run by people called Bruce who still
drink handles a beer every Friday night with the shirt
front's hanging out. But what all of that florid verbiage
from the well intentioned doesn't address is the really big
important question. If you can't make money from your national game,
either no sport can make money, which we know not
to be true, or something is wrong with the way

(01:48):
the national game is run. If you're still in the
red when it's raining money and your press releases have
a desperation about them, someone needs to be held to
account for more from The Mic Asking Breakfast Listen live
to News Talk Set B from six am weekdays, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio