Rugby Football Union (RFU) expenditure breakdown in England 2013-2023

The English Rugby Football Union's (RFU) overhead expenses reached 73.4 million British pounds in the 2022/23 financial year. Based on figures reaching back to 2013/14, this was the most England's governing body of rugby union had ever spent on overheads. Meanwhile, the season with the highest expenditure came in 2015/16, when England were hosts for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. 

How was the RFU formed?

In the early 19th century, the headmaster of Rugby School, Dr. Thomas Arnold, recognized the potential of a group sport activity to occupy the time of mischievous students whilst simultaneously introducing positive ‘Christian’ values, in a concept known as ‘muscular Christianity’. According to legend, a student named William Webb Ellis picked up the ball during a game of football, and the sport of rugby was born. Participation in the sport grew especially in the United Kingdom and its colonies during the nineteenth century; however, there was no universally recognized set of rules adhered to by the clubs that played. Accordingly, the Rugby Football Union was formed in 1871, initially as the world's governing body of rugby. This was a role it retained until 1886, when the International Rugby Football Board (now World Rugby) was established as the sport's rule-maker and, subsequently, the organizer of the Rugby World Cup.  

How does the RFU earn money?

In recent years, the largest share of the RFU's income has come from hospitality catering, which totaled over 70 million British pounds in the 2022/23 financial year. That year, ticket sales were the second-largest source of income for the union, having overtaken broadcasting, the latter of which had consistently brought in over forty million British pounds since 2015/16. Globally speaking, English rugby is one of the best performers off the pitch, with the England Rugby brand second only to the All Blacks in terms of brand value among national rugby unions.