Rugby Football Union to get £15m benefit from 2015 Rugby World Cup

Richie McCaw of New Zealand lifts the trophy during the 2015 Rugby World Cup Final match between New Zealand and Australia at Twickenham Stadium on October 31, 2015 in London, United Kingdom.
© Getty Images
The Rugby Football Union, English rugby union's governing body, will benefit by £15m from the surplus made by the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

The Rugby Football Union has earned £15m from the surplus made by the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

The competition exceeded its revenue target of £250m, with around 2.47m tickets sold for the tournament.

That income covered the £80m that must be paid to World Rugby, leaving an extra £15m for English rugby union's governing body, said Stephen Brown, managing director of organiser England 2015.

Brown told BBC Sport: "From England 2015's perspective, this had been a huge success. Wembley Stadium twice broke the record for the biggest ever Rugby World Cup attendance, and football venues were a huge success and packed for every match."

World Rugby's chief executive Brett Gosper, meanwhile, said England's failure to advance from the pool stage "didn't make a dent" on the success of the tournament.

"It broke every record on every metric we've got - viewing audiences, number of tickets sold, commercial values, sponsorship," Gosper said.

Japan will host the tournament in 2019.

Scotland's wing Sean Maitland (L) receives a yellow card from South African Craig Joubert (C) during a quarter final match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup between Australia and Scotland at Twickenham stadium, southwest London on October 18, 2015
Read Next:
World Rugby: 'No regrets over Joubert statement'
>