The IRFU has published its annual accounts for 2013 showing a surplus from the professional game of €7.3 million and a lower than expected annual overall deficit of €1 million.
This figure reduced from a deficit of €4.3 million the previous year and has been put down to success on the field with prize money from the RBS Six Nations Championship and increased ticket sales for the Autumn Series of internationals adding to the pot.
Income from the international team continues to dominate with €33.3 million coming from that arena. This compare to €10 million through the ERC and provincial rugby, €6.1 million from commercial income and deferred ticket revenue based on ten year and hospitality sales of €15 million.
The unexpected revenue from success on the pitch will be ploughed back into maintaining the quality of funding and as a result players available to the Provincial teams and to bolstering the IRFU Club loan scheme at the next level of the game.
Honorary Treasurer Tom Grace delivered a few words of caution around future funding stressing potential threats to sponsorship income, in a veiled reference to a potential restriction of alcohol sponsorship, and to TV income through the more fragmented audiences that are being created by the mix of pay TV and free to air channels.
He also highlighted the need to prepare for the main renewal of ten year ticket sales in 2020/21 and suggested that the changing nature of European Rugby could mean greater financial benefit for the top clubs in France and England and a lessening of the immense power Irish provinces have had over the past decade.
Over the course of the coming few days we will consider each of the funding elements that make up the annual report in more detail.
These will include looking at a couple of timing issues on why the International team revenues were up; a similar issue explaining why commercial and sponsorship revenue was down by €2.7 million and how the grassroots structure is likely to fare over the coming months and years.
