New Zealand's combined 14 provincial rugby unions have posted a substantial deficit in the 2015 financial year - the first loss in four years.
Wellington lock Jeremy Thrush makes a break to score a try against Waikato Photo: Photosport
In a report released today, the 14 NPC unions produced a collected loss of $1.4 million compared to a surplus of $1.2 million the year before.
The combined revenue earned by the unions for 2015 was $63.8 million, down $3.6 million on 2014 and the lowest total revenue reported since reviews began in 2010.
Player registration numbers for the NPC unions have been gradually trending upwards, having grown by over four percent since 2010.
The number of female player registrations has increased more than 150 per cent over the same period and females now make up about 12 per cent of the registered rugby players in the NPC unions.
- RNZ
