NZ Rugby’s $37m windfall
New Zealand Rugby are set for a $37m windfall from the 2023 World Cup in France.
That will come despite New Zealand voting for South Africa to host the tournament.
When France were surprisingly awarded hosting rights despite World Rugby recommending South Africa hold the tournament, it was revealed they had promised the highest financial return of £350m (NZ$671.3m) to the sport’s governing body.
The Telegraph newspaper in Britain on Thursday (NZT) reported that the breakdown of projected returns to the individual unions ‘‘showed why the French bid proved so attractive’’.
The 10 tier-one countries are expected to share a record £192.5m (NZ$369.2m) payout from World Rugby because of the decision to stage the 2023 World Cup in France.
That means a bonus of almost $37m to New Zealand Rugby.
‘‘That sounds like a lot of money for the tier-one market but they generate 95 per cent of the revenues in a World Cup,’’ Brett Gosper, World Rugby chief executive, said.
The remainder of the money will be invested into tier two and tier three countries and to develop the game in untapped markets such as Germany, Brazil, China, India and the USA.
In the controversial voting system, Ireland were eliminated from the World Cup hosting process in the first round, getting just eight votes while France received 18 and South Africa 13.
France won the decisive second round from South Africa with the votes falling 24-15 in their favour.
New Zealand confirmed they voted for Sanzaar partners South Africa in both rounds but will now enjoy the massive windfall courtesy of France’s success.
Meanwhile, the Telegraph reports on a breakthrough TV deal to have some of the English Premiership games broadcast into China, starting with this weekend’s match between Leicester and Saracens.
It is understood a four-year contract has been agreed with Chinese broadcaster CCTV5+, which will take the global distribution of top- flight English rugby to almost 600 million households worldwide.
The deal will mean at least 25 Premiership matches per season, plus the semifinal and final, broadcast live, with Beijing Elite Rugby producing Mandarin commentary and a weekly highlights show.
The only other rugby to have been broadcast live in China was the 2015 World Cup. China is seen as a fresh frontier for rugby.
‘‘This is a very significant day in the history of Premiership Rugby,’’ Dominic Hayes, commercial director at Premiership Rugby, said.