Big changes could be on the way for rugby in NZ
New Zealand Rugby will hold a critical summit this week as it weighs major decisions over the future of Super Rugby and the NPC, as it seeks to cut $20 million a year in costs.
NZ Rugby and its stakeholders, including provincial unions and the Players Association, will meet in Wellington on Thursday to discuss the governing body’s financial position and options for reshaping the domestic game.
A confidential NZ Rugby document, seen by RNZ, outlines three proposals for the domestic game, including expanding Super Rugby with two additional teams; continuing with the current versions of Super Rugby and the NPC, but merging the Super Rugby clubs with the main provincial unions; or replacing both Super Rugby and the NPC with a new 8-10 team competition.
The proposals are still indicative and intended as starting points for discussion. The idea of scrapping Super Rugby and the NPC in favour of a new format has been put forward by the provincial unions.
The document states that rugby in New Zealand is unable to fund its own growth without changing course, with the current financial model, based on conservative revenue growth, described as unsustainable.
While revenue has doubled for NZR in over the past 10 years, the document noted costs are outpacing that growth causing recurring deficits.
It said NZR is forecast to make cumulative net losses of $68 million between 2022-26 and, based on “conservative revenue projection”, a further $66m across 2027-31. Rugby in New Zealand is forecast to make net loss of $26m for 2026, according to figures in the document.
Current projections show NZR’s cash reserves falling to $72m by the end of 2031 – a similar level to its closing reserves in 2021, before the Silver Lake capital raise.
The document said NZR needs to save about $20m a year to get back in the black.
That puts the structure and cost of the domestic competitions firmly in the spotlight, with the document stating that no domestic competition is currently profitable.
One proposal is to expand Super Rugby from 10 to 12 teams with a new entity “SPR Hold Co” set up to run the competition.
The new entity would hold pooled team commercial rights and run the logistics and marketing for the competition, with NZR and Rugby Australia keeping “broadcast control”. Under this model, the five New Zealand Super Rugby clubs and their provincial unions – Auckland, Waikato, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago – would be merged to reduce the number of high-performance set-ups.
Another proposal would leave Super Rugby and the NPC unchanged, but costs would be cut by amalgamating the Super Rugby clubs with the provincial unions based in the same cities.
The third option is to create a new competition and cut ties with Australia. It is unclear how the New Zealand teams would be selected.
New Zealand Rugby Players Association boss Rob Nichol told RNZ’s Morning Report that the domestic competitions were worth keeping.
“I cannot emphasise enough how well, in the men’s game, NPC and Super Rugby, how well it’s delivered over the last 25 years,” Nichol said.
“Ironically, even though New Zealanders love to beat up on our comps, we’re the envy of the world in that respect still.”
He said his preference was to develop the current competitions.
“I think one of the things we need to do is make sure that we put a proper focus on those competitions and really drive them, whereas I think over recent years the focus has been more on the teams in black (All Blacks, Black Ferns etc) and how we commercialise those and set the game up that way.”
Player payments across all entities is rugby’s largest investment area and while they are not expected to be a major talking point at the summit, NZR is exploring ways they can save some money in that area.
The pre-summit document states NZR’s desire to keep its best players and coaches in New Zealand. However, it is understood the governing body is willing to consider changes to the All Blacks eligibility rules to allow senior players to play overseas while still being eligible for national team selection.
Such a change is not currently in the works, but could help reduce NZR’s costs.
The summit will also include the wider competitive pressures facing rugby in New Zealand, including the threat posed by the NRL.
“Rugby is up against a well organised, well-funded competitor – future success requires alignment against this challenge,” the document states.
The NRL, which has 17 teams and 213 games a season (compared with Super Rugby’s 10 teams and 86 games from 2027), now draws 28 million NZ viewing hours against Super Rugby’s 19m and 14m for NPC, according to the document.
It also highlights the pressure the NRL is putting on rugby pathways in New Zealand, stating that 15 percent (61/434) players in NRL U21 competition in 2026 played 1st XV rugby in New Zealand.
Nothing will be decided at Thursday’s summit, but NZR hopes to be able to bring a final proposal regarding the domestic competitions to its board meeting in December, where other possible changes to the structure of the game in New Zealand could be revealed.
