Rugby World Cup ‘can rake in R27.3bn’

CUE the confetti — hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2023 could see billions of rands added to South African coffers.

According to a statement issued by the 2030 World Cup Bid Comm the tournament will yield R27.3-billion in direct‚ indirect and induced economic impact.

In addition, it could also sustain 38 600 jobs. SA Rugby has commissioned Grant Thornton to conduct an economic impact assessment.

SA Rugby indicated that the government had insisted on having the report verified before it provided the financial guarantees to underwrite the bid.

Some of the highlights from the report is that the tournament is predicted to generate R11-billion in direct spend, and rake in R1.4-billion in tax revenue.

Low-income households could make R5.7-billion from the event, the report added.

“The results are expressed as direct‚ indirect and induced impact.

“For example‚ direct impact will be the amount that a guest pays for a hotel room.

“Indirect impact is what the hotel spends buying food for guests during the tournament‚ while induced impact will be the amounts that the hotel’s employees spend in local shops as a result of their employment with the hotel‚’’ SA Rugby said.

The proposal is that games would be played in seven cities.

Johannesburg‚ where the final would be held‚ may benefit by R10billion and Cape Town R5.2-billion.

“There would have been no guarantee of R2.7-billion if government was not convinced that hosting the 2023 Rugby World cup was an economic opportunity‚’’ South African Rugby CEO Jurie Roux said.

While Minister of Sport Thulas Nxesi supports the bid‚ he said SA Rugby had to meet transformation targets. — DDC