Annual Report 2024/25: Scottish Rugby on track to meet financial targets

Headlines

• Scottish Rugby sees a year-on-year improvement of £7.6m in line with expectations, recording post tax loss of £3.7m
• Ticketing, Broadcast, Professional Rugby and Commercial Income all contribute to £5.5m rise in revenue to £79.4m
• Cash position at June 2025 increased by £11.4m to £28.2m (June 2024: £16.8m)
• Capital investment of £1.4m targeted on revenue generating projects at Scottish Gas Murrayfield
• Increased investment to domestic, club and school rugby of £9.4m, a rise of £0.4m on 2023/4

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Increased revenue alongside the benefits of a series of profit improvement measures delivered over the last two financial years reduced the loss after tax to £3.7m, a year-on-year improvement of £7.6m on the previous financial period (13 months to June 2024: £11.3m), and in line with the original target laid out at the AGM last year.

The focus on costs remains ongoing and will support a further reduced loss in financial year 2025/26. Reaching a breakeven position in the 2026/27 financial year remains a key objective.

Revenue hit record levels of £79.4m, a rise of £5.5m on the previous reporting period. A rise in ticketing income of £11.7m year on year and £2.6m increase in broadcast revenue was partially offset by a reduction in grant income in comparison to 2023/24, reflecting World Rugby funding payments for Rugby World Cup 2023 (played in Autumn 2023) not repeating in 2024/25.

Support for the grass roots game in Scotland remains a key focus of our activities and support to clubs, schools and domestic rugby amounted to £9.4m in the year (FY2023/24: £9.1m).

This represents an increase in spend of 4% year on year, noting that the financial period 2023/24 was 13 months (as a result of the change of accounting period). On a like-for-like basis, the FY2024/25 spend represents an increase of 13%. This support is provided in a number of key areas, notably:

• Domestic Rugby £4.4m (2024: £4.1m): Activities in this area are delivered by the Rugby Development team within Scottish Rugby, supporting community rugby across the country in numerous ways including programme design and delivery and event resource that support clubs, schools and communities with competitions, coach education, match officials’ fees and regional programmes.

• Club and School Support Funds £5.1m (2024: £5.0m): Direct investment to clubs and schools to support their individual needs. Funding during the period supported initiatives including the Club Sustainability Fund, Development Officers investment and Growth & Participation activities.

Our commitment to the development of rugby in Scotland is also reflected in the rising commitment to women’s rugby of £3.9m during financial year 2024/25, covering the costs of our professional players, coaches and support staff alongside operational spend across the pathway programmes and Celtic Challenge. We expect this investment to increase during financial year 2025/26 as we establish a full-time high-performance environment in Edinburgh.

Cash of £28.2m at June 2025 is an increase of £11.4m on the prior year. The year-on-year improvement was in part a result of £7.4m received as planned from CVC, as well as net cash generated from operating activities of £5.7m. Capital expenditure of £1.4m was invested at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, including the refurbishment of our hospitality boxes, as we look to continue our revenue growth, reducing our free cash accordingly. We anticipate this investment continuing in 2025/26.

The exceptional items reported for 2024/25 include restructuring and redundancy costs of £0.4m, predominantly related to the restructuring of the High-Performance department.

In addition, there is a non-cash impairment cost of £0.5m related to the Murrayfield stadium pitch which reached the end of its useful life after a decade and has been replaced by a new playing surface.

Scottish Rugby also disposed of its interest in ‘Old Glory’ (Washington DC professional team) in the year for £0.5m recognised in the accounts as profit with the cost of the investment having been written off previously.

Scottish Rugby Union Chair, Professor Lorne Crerar, said: “Last year’s report acknowledged the financial challenges of 2022/23 and referred to the independent review that followed. Guided by the outcomes of that process, a new budgeting and planning framework was established for 2023/24 and thereafter. I am pleased to confirm that progress in 2024/25 has been in line with expectations, and that our financial turnaround is firmly underway.

“The Chair of the Board of SRL, together with his non-executive and executive colleagues, are to be congratulated for all their efforts and consequent progress. These efforts have rebuilt confidence and provided a solid platform for growth. With SRU’s formal approval of the 2025/26 budget in June, and steady progress already being made against it, our financial horizons are now far more positive. We move forward with renewed ambition — supported by a sound strategy and a stable financial base.”

Chair of Scottish Rugby Limited, John McGuigan, said: “As we entered the 24/25 financial year the agenda for the business was still dominated by moving us further away from the financial difficulties of recent years. We promised, as we did in 2023/24, to reduce the gap between cost and revenue, moving us very close to financial balance by the end of 25/26.

“We are not yet at the point to say the financial challenges are over whilst reporting a loss for 24/25, but it does give me comfort that we are now on a clear glide path to financial balance.

“We have had to make some very tough decisions including redundancies which have impacted loyal colleagues and their families. In combination with other cost reduction measures we have significantly reduced the overspend whilst making investments in key areas of the business including the pathways framework for both the men’s and women’s game. We have also made a number of key appointments in the high-performance area and maintained our commitment to contribute 15%of our income to support the Club game.”

Scottish Rugby CEO, Alex Williamson, said: “Our mission is to become the leading union in world rugby and, thanks to the efforts of both the SRL and SRU Boards and to a number of my executive team, the financial resilience needed to support our change agenda is growing and this has allowed us to make initial strides forward in many areas.

“We still have work to do to ensure we meet our financial targets and our future financial improvement will be energised through careful but ambitious investment. This year we have invested in both our High-Performance programme, to ensure we move forward competitively, and at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, investments which are the start of a wider reimagining of our campus.

“I’d like to acknowledge all our people for their professionalism and resolve over this last year. I’m encouraged by the passion and focus across the organisation to improve and go after opportunities to move Scottish Rugby forward, on and off the pitch. Success is not just about winning, it is about leading the way, and we have every intention of doing that.”