The true significance of Welsh rugby goes far beyond the WRU’s balance sheet shows a new analysis for Prof Jones-Evans
The annual economic impact of Welsh rugby is up to £430m annually.(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)
Welsh rugby, from the professional to the community game, has an annual economic value of up to £430m, new research shows. The economic analysis, conducted by Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, is part of the work from a group led by Rob Regan, which argues for maintaining four professional regions.
The WRU is seeking to reduce the number to three, alongside greater investment in the development of the game. If reduced to three they would each receive annual funding from the union of £7.5m with £28m into the wide rugby pathway over five years.
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An EGM of union clubs on April 13, which includes a motion to dismiss the union’s chairman, Richard Collier-Keywood, is being seen as a de facto referendum on the four-to-three strategy.
The group’s Alternative Strategy for Welsh Rugby report calls for maintaining the four existing regions with equitable central funding – around £6m (not player budgets) – from the WRU.
While subject to legal action from Swansea Council, which has also submitted a case to the Competition and Markets Authority, an acquisition of Cardiff from the WRU by current owners of the Ospreys Y11 Sport and Media, would be a way of getting to three. This is because Y11 has not committed to maintaining ownership of the Ospreys beyond 2027.
What is not clear is whether other investors, although leader of Swansea Council Rob Stewart is engaged with a number of potential parties, could come in to take over the Ospreys and if remaining at three, then bid against the Scarlets for the west Wales franchise from the WRU.
The WRU and Y11 have extended their exclusivity period to conclude a deal – which was previous 60-days – by a further 30-days. In business acquisition deals it not uncommon for parties to extend exclusivity periods.
Professor Jones-Evans’s analysis is based not only on the direct economic impact of the WRU itself and the four professional regions, but also the wider social impact of the community game.
Prof Jones-Evans said: “The available data indicate that Welsh rugby provides a direct annual economic impact of at least £225m and up to £250m through the professional game and matchday activity alone. When a cautious estimate for the grassroots game is included, this amount increases to between £240m and £270m.
“Furthermore, if the broader social and wellbeing benefits of the community game are considered, the total national value of Welsh rugby could plausibly range from £370m to £430m annually.”
The report says that the community game is the foundation from which the professional game, the national brand, and the match day economy derive their long-term value. Its full social return on investment is estimated at £130m–£160m annually. However, the report says that the WRU currently provides just £4.6m of its own funds (or less than 5p in every pound of revenue) to sustain it.
Prof Jones-Evans said: “The true significance of Welsh rugby goes far beyond the WRU’s balance sheet.” He added: “International matches at the Principality Stadium generate one of Wales’s strongest visitor economies, with each major home international contributing approximately £10.5m to £11m in matchday economic impact at current prices.
“This results in an annual visitor economy of about £63m to £66m from six major fixtures. Of course, this does not include income from other events hosted at the stadium, such as concerts.”
Prof Jones-Evans added: “Crucially, much of this is new money entering Wales, with about 35% of visitors coming from outside Wales, and their spending accounts for around 70% of total economic output.”
While not a tangible asset, the WRU also has an equity stake in the Six Nations. After professional advisory fees – and a failure to meet commercial targets for the competition, which would have seen a further £10m -the union received around £40m when 14% of the tournament was acquired by CVC Capital Partners in 2021. With the union having drawn down the final phased payment from CVC, it is now facing a dilution impact of around £3m per year.
Prof Dylan Jones-Evans’s analysis highlights that the remaining stake could have a value, depending on commercial interest, of between £2.6bn and £4bn. However, there is no indication that Six Nations Rugby – the commercial company set up by the respective governing bodies -is looking to sell further equity, which would require all the unions to agree. Any further equity sell off would create a further dilution of profit share from the tournament for the WRU.
Prof Jones-Evans said the game in Wales is at a crossroads and requires strong governance and support from a wide range of stakeholders to ensure its social and economic relevance in Wales – as well as its global brand reputation -is not only protected, but built upon.
He said: “The evidence in this document shows that the consequences of failure extend beyond the rugby community. They impact the Cardiff visitor economy, the regional economies of south and west Wales, the grassroots infrastructure that supports Welsh civic and community life, and a national brand whose value relies on competitive credibility, which is currently declining.
“The question this analysis poses to those with decision-making authority -the WRU board, the Welsh Government, the Senedd, and the Welsh Affairs Committee – is not whether the evidence exists – it does.
“The question is whether the governance structures currently in place are adequate to protect an asset of this scale and irreversibility, and if not, what intervention is proportionate. This document does not answer that question, but it does establish, as clearly as the available evidence allows, why it must be asked – and answered -urgently.”
The alternative plan from Mr Regan, a former chief operating officer of Principality Building Society and Hodge Bank, and founder of tech venture Enigma Glen Melford-Colegate, argues that central alignment and cost control can, in principle, be pursued without removing a region. They are being advised and supported by a group of more than 50 business and rugby related figures.
While they have held meetings with both WRU chief executive Abi Tierney and chair Mr Collier-Keywood, they believe the union didn’t undertake a robust analysis on why four – with money still being able to be invested in the development of the game – couldn’t be maintained before backing a reduction to three strategy.
They said that spending identified for the pathway – although a breakdown of funding has not yet been made public – should be challenged, including holding off any plans for new national campus, saying that existing university, college, local authority and partner facilities are used instead.
However, the report does not position the four region case as an “unconditional entitlement.” It adds: “The safer position is to support a defined stabilisation window, for example 24 months, during which four regions are retained only alongside hard disclosure, reporting, and delivery triggers.”
These triggers should include agreed budget-control compliance at each region and publication of ownership and capital structure summaries.”
It adds: “If those conditions are missed on a repeated or material basis, the response should not be denial or rhetorical escalation. The response should be automatic reappraisal of the operating model. This strengthens the four region case by making it conditional on delivery rather than dependent on assertion.”
The alternative plan also recommends a separation of the community game from the professional. They also explore whether community clubs could benefit financially from adopting community interest or charitable status, including from business rate reductions.
While the WRU has been successful, particularly under previous regimes, in securing grant funding from the public sector – most notably from the Welsh Government for capital projects including Principality Stadium screens and a new pitch -the alternative strategy says more funding could be secured.
It highlights the example of the Football Association of Wales, which is around three times smaller than the WRU in terms of revenue, in securing investment to support the growth of the grassroots game from public sources. The report calls for a “ring-fenced professional operating perimeter, separate reporting lines for community and pathway investment, and transparent treatment of transfers between the two.”
It also says that the regions and WRU should pursue shared medical, sports science, analytics, procurement, legal, and back-office services where duplication adds cost, but provides little strategic advantage.
This approach has been looked at in the past by the WRU, with mixed cost-saving results. Its One Wales strategy also identifies shared services between the union and the regions – although, with the current uncertainty, that has yet to be fully explored.
The alternative report says: “This is a governance and operating-efficiency recommendation, not a claim that every function should be centralised. Financial monitoring should identify stress earlier and favour collaborative restructuring over reactive crisis management. The administration and ownership shock at Cardiff in April 2025 illustrates why earlier visibility of financial pressure matters.
“The strongest version of the four region argument is therefore not that Wales should preserve four teams on sentiment alone. It is that Welsh rugby should preserve four teams only within a system capable of earning that outcome through transparency, pathway yield, financial discipline, stronger women’s development, better grassroots renewal, and better fan conversion.”
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