Scottish Rugby revenue rises £5.5m to £57.9m

Scottish Rugby has published its Financial Statements 2021-22 ahead of the second part of the organisation’s AGM on September 28, 2022.

Scottish Rugby said its revenue has returned to within 5% of pre-pandemic levels at £57.9 million, a rise of £5.5 million from the previous year.

It reported a “deficit” of £5.3 million on the “base business” and a “net surplus after tax” of £29 million for the year.

“The key driver of the increased revenue was the welcome return of thousands of our supporters to BT Murrayfield, Scotstoun and the newly opened DAM Health Stadium,” said Scottish Rugby.

“A continuation of our pledge to invest in domestic rugby saw some £8.1m (roughly 14% of total turnover) spent on the grassroots game in Scotland.

“This included £1m more on domestic rugby than in the previous year, as well as a near-doubling of Club Support monies apportioned through the Supporting Clubs Investment Programme (SCIP), which was designed to help clubs steer through the pandemic and which will, going forward, become the Club Investment Fund.

“The audited accounts display a deficit of £5.3m on the base business, the key drivers of the deficit being increased utility costs and the financial costs of increased health and safeguarding measures during the pandemic.

“We also welcomed strategic investment from private equity partners into 6 Nations, which drove a gain on disposal of investment of £34.2m, bringing our net surplus after tax to £29m for the year.”

Scottish Rugby chief executive Mark Dodson said: “After the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 global pandemic, I am pleased that our Financial Statement 2021-22 paints a positive picture of recovery for rugby and the support shown to our national, professional and club game is clear to see.

“These accounts show how well Scottish Rugby has withstood the difficulties of Covid-19, which affected every sports organisation and indeed wider business the world over.

“We would like to again thank our people, partners, sponsors and the Scottish Government for their support during that unprecedented period.

“There are challenges that still lie ahead for us to make a complete recovery. We will be working hard to achieve this.”