New Zealand Rugby (NZR) posted a loss of $463,000 in the 2015 Rugby World Cup year, the organisation announced on Wednesday.



NZR also signalled a significant expansion of support for provincial rugby over the next five years following the finalisation of global broadcast contracts.



NZR chief executive Steve Tew said the loss, which was less than budgeted, reflected a deliberate decision to continue investing in the organisation's strategic priorities including winning back-to-back Rugby World Cup titles.



"We are very proud of what we achieved in 2015. We supported the All Blacks in their goal of winning the World Cup away from home, including the historic Test in Samoa which kicked off their successful campaign. We also increased resourcing for the All Blacks Sevens and New Zealand Women's Sevens teams as they build towards the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro," he said in a statement.

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In 2015 NZR invested $134.3 million across the game, compared to $120.2 million in the previous year.

Tew said a Rugby World Cup year was an unusual one in terms of income with far fewer tests, meaning test match revenue was $12 million lower than the previous year.



"While we received significant compensation from World Rugby for the lost test match revenue, this does not fully offset the loss of potential commercial revenue in a normal year. For example, some sponsors pay less as they're not able to leverage their partnerships to the same degree with fewer tests in a Rugby World Cup year.



"Having said that, it was very pleasing to record revenue of $133.7 million, up from $120.8 million in 2014. This reflected the World Rugby compensation, new sponsorship agreements, along with World Cup-related licensing income and bonuses."

The NZR also lost money on the Wellington Sevens tournament.



NZR's overall financial position remained strong. Cash reserves closed the year at $59.1 million slightly down on 2014.