The Springboks’ Baltimore Test is ultimately about the bottom line, with SA Rugby chasing a multimillion-dollar boost before next year’s World Cup. Picture: AFP
The Springboks’ Baltimore showdown with the All Blacks isn’t just a rugby match — it’s a multimillion-dollar payday. With both unions facing a lean financial year when next year’s World Cup rolls around, the dollars made the decision to take the fourth Test to America an easy one.
The Baltimore Test is projected to generate between $4 million and $6 million more for the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry partners, SA Rugby and New Zealand Rugby, than the match would have earned had it been staged in South Africa.
That is a significant windfall for SA Rugby, particularly with next year’s World Cup set to create a major hole in the Springboks’ usual home-match income.
The first three Tests of the series, played in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Soweto, are understood to have generated between R60 million and R80 million each for the 50-50 partners to split.
