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How rugby's finances stack up

Tue 14 Feb 2006 20.31 EST

On the RFU's side . . .

In 2005 the Rugby Football Union turned over £84.8m and made a £23.2m profit, of which £19m was distributed to the clubs

The RFU also distributed £5m towards the clubs' academy programmes

TV and sponsorship income from the Six Nations Championship is split in three ways:

- part equally between member countries

- part according to the number of clubs a country has

- part according to where the countries finish in the Six Nations

(The actual split is not disclosed, but England and France, where the club game is strongest, are paid the most)

On the clubs' side . . .

In 2004, the last year for which all figures are available, the 12 Premiership clubs turned over nearly £70m, an average of £5.7m each

Six Premiership clubs made a profit: Leicester, Gloucester, London Irish, Northampton, Sale and Bath

Leicester Tigers, right, with an average home crowd of 16,789, were the best supported club; Leeds Tykes, with 5,573, had lowest crowds

Premiership crowds have been increasing every season, to an average of over 11,000 in 2004-05