NEWS: New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is progressing a key programme of work with the goal to establish a financial framework that allows rugby in New Zealand to be sustainable for the future.

This project will see NZR and its key rugby partners working together to establish a financially secure sport that is investing in the growth of the game for community participants, professional players and fans.

“Rugby in New Zealand has had a fantastic year across the community and professional game with increased participation and highly engaged fans,” NZR CEO Mark Robinson said.

“We look at the global context, we believe that the game here is in a relatively strong financial position compared to others internationally.

“However, everyone acknowledges that the game should evolve, and we believe that now is the right time to get people together and start that work.”

Robinson added: “It is absolutely crucial that we invest in the grassroots of the game, and for us to have development pathways that are more efficient and show talented young people a clear journey to become professional rugby players.

“We also need to continue to evolve our competitions so that we can make sure fans love watching and that we prepare our players to perform on the international stage.”

In partnership with the 26 Provincial Unions, five New Zealand Super Rugby clubs and other key stakeholders, several key workstreams will commence from the beginning of 2025.

NZR revealed that these workstreams are set to be completed in time for implementation in 2026 and include:

• Provincial Union funding arrangements
• Super Rugby Club funding arrangements
• Men’s and women’s high performance pathways and competitions changes
• New Zealand Rugby Commercial (NZRC) growth funding to support the commercial strategy

For the remainder of 2024, NZR is sharing a range of independent financial and rugby analysis with key stakeholders to outline the current state, as well as options to establish this new era for the game.

As part of this, NZR commissioned an independent report into the future structure and resourcing of the men’s high-performance development pathways and domestic competitions in New Zealand.

The Men’s Pathways and Competitions (MPAC) report was received by the NZR Board last week and no decisions have been made prior to discussions with key stakeholders.

The report does, however, validate that the NPC is a valued competition for rugby in New Zealand and is set to retain the current 14 teams.

NZR will now spend the remainder of the year in direct discussions with its rugby partners on MPAC and other key financial sustainability analyses.

Meetings commence on Wednesday in Christchurch, before moving to Wellington (October 31), Hamilton (November 4) and Auckland (November 6). An all-of-game meeting will take place in Auckland on December 5.

Further communication on decisions and key milestones will follow in 2025.