Rugby as a business has boomed both on and off the field in recent decades and much of that is down to public equity investment.   

With a clampdown on head injuries, however, will the declining physicality of the game damage the income being earned by it off the field?  

On Breakfast Business this morning, former World Rugby CFO Robert Brophy said the sport is now at a turning point. 

“Rugby has seen dramatic growth - exponential growth really - since the first World Cup in 1987 with revenues of five million dollars right up to the World Cup of 2023, which generated revenues in excess of a billion dollars,” he said. 

“I think we’re seeing through a plateauing of those revenues; I think the future of rugby is challenged. 

“It’s dependent upon a number of major markets at this point in time; it needs to probably either expand those markets or perhaps look at areas to make efficiencies.” 

You can listen back to the full interview here:

Main image: 8th March 2025; Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland: Six Nations International Rugby, Ireland versus France. Credit: Action Plus Sports Images/Alamy Live News.