Poor crowds, rising costs hit Hurricanes
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The Hurricanes have asked shareholders for an additional NZ$1-million (R10.5-million) in capital after a NZ$700,000 (R7.4-million) loss in 2024.
The Super Rugby Pacific franchise is owned by the Wellington Rugby Football Union (50%), offshore investors Y11 Sport & Media Group (34.38%), Coastlands chief executive Richard Mansell (12.5%) and Horowhenua Kapiti Rugby Football Union (3.12%).
"We’re raising $1-million,” Hurricanes chairman Iain Potter told The Post. “That’s prudent because we’ve run three losses – we're going to run a loss this year – and we're going to be plus or minus $100,000 next year – could be minus. We need to maintain a reasonable cash reserve for us to operate comfortably.”
Potter said dwindling crowd attendances and the increased cost of running a professional rugby team had hit their bottom line.
While the Hurricanes have a 38-man Super Rugby squad, they look after a group of 50-plus players due to wider training group players, youngsters and replacement players.
"My analogy is the cost of Formula 1," Potter told The Post. "Do you want a Formula 1 car that's competitive in today’s Super Rugby grand prix?
"You have to have all the bits and pieces that make that car as competitive as everyone else – the squads have got bigger and all the resource that goes with it has got bigger.
"So, costs have gone up, live audiences have gone down, and commercial support hasn’t grown sufficiently to fill that gap."
Only 9,000 fans watched the Hurricanes beat the Waratahs in Wellington last Friday, while 12,000 attended the New Zealand derby against the Blues.
"Gate is a problem," Potter said. "We're aware that the public has fallen a little bit out of love with Super Rugby. Bums on seats for everyone are poor."
Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
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