Squeeze puts rugby budget on 'knife edge'

BY TOBY ROBSON

Wellington rugby lives on a financial "knife edge", according to outgoing chief executive Greg Peters, as falling gates and the lingering effects of the global recession continue to hit the provincial game.

The effects of the union's tightening budget have started to hit home after two consecutive years of deficits and a lack of payouts from the Hurricanes franchise.

The Wellington Maori team kicked off its campaign the weekend before last with the players car-pooling to Whanganui for their first match and paying for their own accommodation.

The Maori have not been issued with kit for the season and are relying on Johnsonville Rugby Club to provide a training ground free of charge.

Wellington's age-grade sides have been told to return union tracksuits at season's end and the Lions have drawn low crowds to their four ITM Cup home matches.

Awful weather saw just 3368 fans at the season opener against Tasman, and though 7000 watched the Counties-Manukau and Waikato matches, there were only 5646 to watch Northland last Saturday.

Manawatu attracted a bigger crowd, 6100, for their match against Hawke's Bay in Palmerston North the following day.

Peters is not hiding from the fact that budgets will stay tight.

"Provincial rugby is still teetering on a financial knife edge going into 2011," he said. "It will be a fantastic year with the Rugby World Cup and we are all right behind that, but it will still be an uncertain environment for provinces throughout the year.

"We are taking a prudent approach to our financial management and we are not out of the woods yet. The Maori funding cut is in the context that since 2007 we've dropped from 10 representative teams to six teams and that has corresponded with a 50 per cent decrease in spend on all of our rep teams."

Wellington lost $500,000 in 2009 and $9731 in 2008.

"Falling gate revenue from the Hurricanes impacts on their ability to distribute money and the corresponding falling gate for the Lions as well. We needed to make some more changes and unfortunately this [Maori funding] is one of them."

Wellington Maori rugby, which is a separate constitutional entity to the union, did a "fantastic job" and would always be an important part of the union.

"The other surviving rep teams are also saying they don't have as much kit as they used to ... We are sharing it around a lot more because we have reduced resources ... That's economic reality."

The Wellington Lions' budget had also been cut significantly and lower player wages would help reduce costs in coming seasons.

Peters takes up a Sydney-based post as the first fulltime chief executive of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia's rugby alliance, Sanzar, on November 1.

- © Fairfax NZ News