JOHANNESBURG – The 2023 Rugby World Cup will provide World Rugby's 10 tier-one countries, including South Africa, with a massive cash windfall.
The money will be provided by France who promised World Rugby a financial return of £350-million (R6-billion) from 2023 tournament.
The 10 tier-one countries are South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy
The English daily newspaper The Telegraph reported on Thursday that as the All Blacks have won the last two World Cups, the tournament will continue to be a cash cow for New Zealand Rugby.
That will come despite New Zealand voting for South Africa to host the tournament.
When France were surprisingly awarded hosting rights despite World Rugby recommending South Africa hold the tournament, it was revealed they had promised the highest financial return of £350-million to the sport's governing body.
“That sounds like a lot of money for the tier-one market but they generate 95 percent of the revenues in a World Cup,” Brett Gosper, World Rugby chief executive, said.
The remainder of the money will be invested into tier-two and tier-three countries and to develop the game in untapped markets such as Germany, Brazil, China, India and the USA.
In the controversial voting system, Ireland were eliminated from the World Cup hosting process in the first round, getting just eight votes while France received 18 and South Africa 13.