WRU finances 'pretty good' despite plan to cut regional side
WRU finances 'pretty good' despite plan to cut regional side
Sat, May 23, 2026 at 2:53 PM UTC
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WRU chief financial and operating officer Gavin Marshall was previously Bristol Sport group chief executive
The Welsh Rugby Union's (WRU) chief financial and operating officer, Gavin Marshall, says the governing body's finances "are in a pretty good position" - despite plans to cut a regional team.
The governing body intends to reduce the number of men's professional sides from four to three, with one club in the east of Wales, one in Cardiff and one in the west.
This plan has sparked turmoil, protests and legal action - with Ospreys and Scarlets thought to be the teams most at threat - with the decision to move to cut a team being heavily criticised.
Marshall, speaking on the WRU podcast, indicated that from an annual turnover of more than £100m, after capital expenditure costs there is in the region of £30-35m left to invest in the game in Wales.
He said that roughly £10m of that goes to fund the community game, with the remainder largely allocated to the professional game.
"I think the finances are in a pretty good position," Marshall said.
"Rugby has challenges... but within Wales we've got so much passion for rugby and there's so much interest, we've got a great opportunity with the stadium - which I think is the best rugby stadium in the world - so I think we're in a good place.
"We recognise we've underinvested in a number of areas over a period of time, certainly underinvestment in our pathways, in our coaching programme and coaches, in the women's game.
"There's a number of areas that we've identified we need to invest more for the long-term health of Welsh rugby."
He added: "We also recognise with the clubs, it's becoming increasingly expensive to run professional rugby clubs, the costs are going up.
"So it's trying to balance funding those clubs correctly so that they are geared for success, but also enabling us to invest in those areas that we believe we need to invest in for the long-term health of Welsh rugby."
Marshall, originally from Pembrokeshire and the former Bristol Sport group chief executive, was appointed in September 2025 and started in post on 3 November tasked with improving the WRU's finances.
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The WRU had taken out an £18m Covid support loan from the Welsh government in 2022, for which it subsequently appealed for an improvement in terms.
But a new £55m debt refinancing package agreed in January – via banks HSBC and Goldman Sachs – will see the Welsh government loan and a separate commercial loan paid off.
"The new financing deal we've done with HSBC and Goldman Sachs is really positive," Marshall said.
"We've reduced our interest rates we were paying, we've got a greater facility, a greater flexibility."
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Falling ticket sales for Wales games have also impacted the WRU's finances, with both national sides in poor form and struggling for victories. The cost of living crisis is also a factor.
The men's team lost 19 games in a row before beating Japan last summer, while they ended a three-year Six Nations losing streak by beating Italy 31-17 in the final game of this year's tournament.
The women's team are on a record nine-Test losing streak after a winless Six Nations saw them again pick up the Wooden Spoon.
"It's our crown jewels, the Six Nations particularly, but now with the Nations Championship it's really important to us, to our profitability we maximise the profits on those games," Marshall said.
"We have seen a steady decrease in terms of the ticket revenue and there were some challenges particularly with the autumn internationals, and in the France game in the Six Nations where we didn't hit our budget in terms of those ticket and match-day revenue.
"In hindsight we were very optimistic with the budget, the growth that we would get, but part of that reason is we were very successful in attracting families and juniors to the games and we got that yield wrong in the budget."
Marshall points to an "unprecedented" number of junior fans attending international games and an upturn in crowd numbers at the Scotland and Italy games as reasons for optimism.
He also said the WRU will introduce new ticket pricing categories, going from three bands to six.
Source: “AOL Money”
