David Moffett: Former NZ Rugby CEO on the body reporting a $19.5 million deficit

Record income for NZ Rugby was not enough to save them from their third yearly deficit in a row. 

Yesterday, NZR Chair David Kirk revealed a $19.5 million loss, despite the body bringing in a record $285 million. 

Former CEO David Moffett told Ryan Bridge it’s symptomatic of rugby around the world. 

He says professional rugby is living in quicksand – no matter where you look, it’s in real trouble. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Record income for ins. It are not enough though, to
save them from their third annual deficit in a row. Yesterday,
the chair David Kirkainfield nineteen and a half million dollar loss.
This is despite bringing in two hundred and eighty five
million and revenue. That's their highest ever income. David Moffatt
is the former INSID Rugby CEO with me this morning, David,

(00:20):
good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Good morning. This is an early one mate.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Yeah, thank you for being up with us. What do
you make What do you make of these numbers?

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Well, I suppose they've got I got some decent amount
of cash in the bank. Three losses in a row.
I think I managed to a round about seventy five
million dollars and I can't I was struggling just to
remember how much money they got from the Silver Lake deal.

(00:50):
I think it was close to three hundred million altogether.
So they've been burning cash, you know, at a rate
of knots. One's got to wait and see whether that
will stop. But what this is is symptomatic of rugby
around the world, and it's professional rugby is now living

(01:11):
in quicksand no matter where you look in the world,
it's in real trouble. I mean recently you saw the
Cardiff Blues go into receivership and there's been taken over
by the Welsh Rugby Union. I'm not quite sure what
they will bring to the tape table. And then you
just see you've had well. Most of the Super rugby

(01:37):
teams are always perilously poised in their finances. Most recently
the Hurricanes apparently approached through ends, are for a one
million dollar dailout and the games in real trouble financially.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
What about how much they're paying the players. Do you
think that the salaries are too high or what are
they spending their money?

Speaker 2 (01:58):
I think there are too many teams, to be perfectly
honest with you, and you know, here's here's some things
that I would do. But at New Zealand Rugby I
would firstly, I would really cut the size of the administration.
You know, I don't know what it is now, but
it was about two hundred at one stage. We used

(02:18):
to do at different times, but at the beginning of
the professional rugby we had around about thirty three thirty
four when I was the chief executive and we did
a pretty good job. I thought, that's the first thing,
and do the second thing I would do would be
cut a professional team. There are too many teams in
New Zealand for the for the number of quality players

(02:42):
that we have. That would be a very difficult one,
wouldn't it. You know, But that's no different to any
business who had to make that. You've got to be vert,
you've got to be brutal. So yeah, I don't know
to be perfectly honest with you, but needs to happen.
Australia needs to cut another team. They can't afford four

(03:04):
professional teams and so it goes. I mean, the English
Premiership is still in trouble financially and they've gone down
from fourteen to ten teams, but it's still in trouble.
Nine out of the ten teams make a loss every
year and it's not it's just not sustainable. You know.
You can't go on like that.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
And not when your third year in the hole for
nineteen and a half million dollars. David, appreciate your time
this morning, David Moffatt, former n Z Rugby CEO. For
more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live to
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