Scottish Rugby explain recording £11.3million deficit for 2023/24

Scottish Rugby officials have insisted that the organisation has a clear plan in place to “return to a sound financial footing” after recording an £11.3million deficit for 2023/24. The governing body acknowledged it is a “significant loss” but said “a series of measures are now under way to reduce costs further in the 2024-25 financial year to provide a pathway to profitability in 2025/26”.

The results presented in the latest accounts cover a 13-month period from June 1 2023 to June 30 2024, with the inclusion of the 13th month leading to an additional loss of £3.3m.

Other reasons given for the eight-figure loss were: expenditure in professional rugby, high performance rugby, club and school support Funds, increased administration and governance costs, an additional month of employee and operational costs, Scotland’s preparation for and attendance at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the move to the new player pathway and winding down of Super Series and the continuing investment in the women’s game and pro team budgets.

A loss in the region of £3.8m is forecast for the 2024/25 financial year, followed by a break-even position in financial year 2025/26 and a return to profit in the following year.

Professor Lorne Crerar, the Scottish Rugby Union chair, said: “The new budgetary and supporting plan has now been put in place after much hard work, and despite further significant losses recorded for 2023/24, there is cause for optimism going forward.

“The SRL (Scottish Rugby Limited) board is making steady progress through its financial reset programme, ensuring the restoration of Scottish Rugby to a sustainable business model. Encouragingly, the SRU board approved the budget for financial year 2024/25 in June, and SRL has made headway in meeting its revenue and cost targets.

“All those involved in the journey of Scottish Rugby, including our stakeholders, the boards of SRU, SRL and CRB, together with all our Scottish Rugby colleagues, have contributed to meeting the challenges of this financial year. I am in no doubt that all acting in concert, we will ensure that we successfully meet the challenges of the future.”

Scottish Rugby Limited chair John McGuigan added: “On arriving as the chair of SRL in June 2023, it soon became apparent that alongside a number of known challenges such as our ageing stadium, there were some deeper and more immediate issues to tackle, particularly around our financial sustainability.

“Since those issues were identified, we have been working tirelessly to ensure we return Scottish Rugby to a sound financial footing. Doing so will allow us to focus on other strategic matters crucial to the development of the game at club, professional and international level.

“We have confidence that the actions we are taking are already starting to reduce the underlying cost base. This is in parallel to work being undertaken to look at increasing our future revenue growth and bring to life new commercial opportunities.

“We are determined to ensure that trend continues until we reach a sustainable, long-term position; a target we are committed to achieving in the financial year 2026/27.”