SerpApi.Org
The Rugby Football League have posted a post-tax profit for the first time in four years – with Nigel Wood insisting the financial results justify the significant governance changes made by the sport.
The governing body has been losing hundreds of thousands of pounds in recent years. In the accounts for the 2024 year, they lost well over £500,000.
But 2025 was a pivotal and significant year for the sport at boardroom level. A slew of departures from the governing body’s board led to Wood returning, a strategic review being formed and Super League ultimately expanding from 12 teams to 14.
And those changes have been telling, it seems.
RFL posts small profit
The profit is only small – £4,151 after tax – but Wood insists in the RFL’s annual report that they were on track to lose around £300,000 before he returned to the fold and headed up an interim board.
That, in his eyes, justifies the decisions that were made to restructure the sport’s governance and adjust the financial and strategic outlook of the game.
Wood’s return raised questions from Sport England over the governance of the game, but it appears those have now been satisfied – with Wood acknowledging in his statement in the report their Code for Sports Governance has been met.
He said: “Off-the-field in 2025 there was a great deal of change in the governing body. And there had to be. With clubs increasingly perturbed by the direction the sport was heading – both financially and strategically – it was almost inevitable matters would come to a head.
“The previous board stood down in April but the RFL was able to utilise the talents and expertise of various other directors to help navigate the governing body through some critical months.
“It proved a delicate balance but the interim board, all working without pay, skilfully ensured the sport arrived at the place it needed to be and, crucially, in line with The Code for Sports Governance and under strong examination from Sport England.
“It was an important and invaluable transition which was pivotal in manoeuvring the sport into a position where it can truly flourish and deliver on its obvious potential.
“Thankfully, I can now report that we have a fully compliant independent board of talented and dedicated directors. Amid all the upheaval and uncertainty, the interim board was able to turn an inherited budgeted loss of almost £300k into a small profit – further evidence that the right steps were taken to make those difficult but necessary alterations at board level.
“In addition, RL Commercial, of which the RFL are a 50% shareholder, distributed a further £1.4m of surplus into the professional game, while the sizeable and significant Club Led Strategic Review allowed the sport to enact a number of important changes and recommendations to augment further.
“The positive results of this have already been seen in some quarters but will also be a longer, lasting legacy for rugby league.”
