These are tumultuous times for the Rugby Football Union (RFU), with as much of the action taking place in the board room as on the pitch at the moment.
Having already lost its Chair, COO/CFO, and with the CEO soon to face a vote of no confidence, the news that Commercial Director Stuart Ramsey is also on his way out the door adds yet another challenge for professional rugby’s under-pressure governing body.
Having previously worked at high profile organisations including the British Olympic Association, the English Football Association and Southampton FC, Ramsey joined the RFU in September 2023 and is credited with playing a crucial role in securing a £100m 10-year naming rights deal with Allianz for Twickenham, and a recent partnership with Apple.
Ramsey is expected to take up a new role in triathlon at the newly formed Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) from April, when he will be appointed as Chief Commercial Officer. The PTO, which is co-owned by its professional athletes, has been set up with the goal of taking triathlon into the mainstream. Upon joining, Ramsey will be responsible for commercial operations of the second T100 Triathlon World Tour, which is set to begin its second season next month.
Ramsey’s appointment comes ahead of the T100 Tour’s biggest season to date following its expansion, with eight 100km races on the calendar for 2025, starting with the Singapore T100 race in April. The circuit will then take in Vancouver, the French Riviera, London, Valencia, Las Vegas and Dubai, before the final event in Qatar.
While capturing Ramsey is clearly a boon for triathlon, the announcement is yet another setback for the RFU, which has already seen chief operations officer / chief financial officer Sue Day join the Football Association in April last year and RFU chair, Tom Ilube, resign in December following a row over executive pay, which continues to rumble on.
On 27 March 2025 a special general meeting of the RFU, will then determine the fate of the RFU’s chief executive, Bill Sweeney. Although believed to retain the backing of the RFU Board, Sweeney is also under pressure to resign over executive pay, following calls by more than 150 clubs for him to go after the revelation that he received a £358,000 bonus last year, which took his overall remuneration package to £1.1m, despite the RFU making losses of nearly £38 million and making 42 staff redundant last year.
The losses are due to a number of factors, including fewer home Six Nations games, lower ticket sales, and higher business costs, emphasising how important it is for the RFU to get a handle on its finances and maximise its commercial opportunities.
While Ramsey’s departure is not believed to be linked to the ongoing executive pay crisis, sources have suggested he had become disillusioned at the RFU and wanted to work on fresh projects. Ramsey’s CV states that he has been involved in the World Triathlon (formerly International Triathlon Union) since 2012, so he clearly has a long-standing interest in seeing triathlon grow.
Commercial directors are an increasingly intrinsic part of modern sports clubs and sporting organisations, helping them to generate revenue, manage budgets and (crucially) grow the business, in order to achieve financial sustainability/profitability and reach new audiences.
Teams like to do their talking on the pitch, but they make the best statements when backed by appropriate structures that underpin sporting success, not least commercial strength. The top tier of professional rugby, the Premiership, now features just 10 teams, seven of which have a negative balance sheet, while big names including Worcester, Wasps and London Irish have all gone to the wall in recent years, and teams in the second-tier, the Championship, continue to face an uncertain financial future, suggesting all is not roses within the English game. The administrator for London Irish recently told Sky Sports it is only “a matter of time” until the next Premiership Rugby club goes bust, saying the game’s financial model needs to be “radically changed”.
As English rugby continues to emerge from its Covid-19 challenges, which saw significant lost revenues and sizeable increases in costs and inflation, its ability to attract and retain new commercial partners will be crucial to maintaining the sport’s appeal, and the nation’s international competitivity.
Whoever next takes up the Commercial Director role at the RFU will need to get a handle on the situation quickly and work hard to return professional rugby to profitability, which will be no easy task. As Francis Baron, who led the RFU for 12 years, said recently, “If you continue making losses you rapidly lose the confidence of the banking market and your shareholders… You can’t go on like this.” Despite assurances from the RFU that the union “is in a strong financial position”, a loss is a loss, whether it’s on the pitch, or on the balance sheet.
Contact our Sports Law and Corporate & Commercial expert:
David Little is a Partner at Bishop & Sewell in our expert Sports Law and Corporate & Commercial teams. If you would like to contact him, please call on either 07968 027343 or 020 7631 4141 or email: company@bishopandsewell.co.uk.
The above is accurate as at 11 March 2025. The information above may be subject to change.
The content of this note should not be considered legal advice and each matter should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
