It is clear that Ireland punches well above its weight in terms of the financial returns it gets from these two tournaments. Nowhere is that more evident than in the distribution of television rights where we are a net beneficiary of in excess of €10 million a year from both tournaments. The IRFU has been in existence since 1874. It is an all-Ireland governing body with responsibility for rugby at all levels across the island of Ireland from the national team down to clubs, schools and community rugby. Since our foundation 136 years ago we have taken great pride in the unwavering bonds that rugby has fostered between our traditions North and South, no more so highlighted than through the dark days of the Troubles when interclub and representative matches continued unbroken, which saw teams and supporters cross the Border week-in week-out to play and mix in the name of sport. Such camaraderie flourishes still to this day.
I want to emphasise that we are not just about professional rugby. We are also about grassroots rugby. Our development initiatives focus on spreading the rugby gospel to villages and parishes that have never been seen as rugby centres. We are increasing our numbers by 10%, year-on-year, at present. A simple but interesting example of our current development initiatives is the vibrant Gaeltacht rugby programme, which is fostering clubs from Corca Dhuibhne in County Kerry, Connemara, Mayo and Donegal. In the past five years, we have increased the number of registered players from 98,000 to over 150,000. Quite simply, rugby is not about the professional game alone. It is also about spreading its core values of fair play, physical well-being, responsibility and team spirit to every part of Ireland.
The professional game is the high-profile member of our family. Everything else depends on its success, which is critical. It is truly the financial engine of the sport. It has been extraordinarily successful in recent years. Central to that success was the decision taken by the IRFU in 1999 to invest heavily in keeping Ireland's best players at home, rather than allowing them to be tempted to move to England. Our efforts in this regard were greatly helped by the State tax incentive for sportspeople based in Ireland, and also by the goodwill of the players, who understand what we are trying to achieve. Our success means that Irish players train, play and live here. Ireland's set-up is the envy of the rugby world. The success of Irish rugby is based on it. It is unthinkable for those of us involved in Irish rugby that any of this should be put at risk.
I will move on to the slide that deals with finances. The IRFU is a not-for-profit organisation. Our finances are published annually. All of our income is ploughed back into running and developing the professional and amateur games. The financial figures on the chart show that the IRFU generated revenues of approximately €57 million in the year up to 30 April 2009. The critical figure on the income side is television income, which comprises approximately 24% of our revenue. On the expenditure side, the professional game costs approximately €32 million to run. It generates the excess that allows us to invest approximately €14 million in clubs, schools, communities and the development of young players. These figures demonstrate that our finances are on a knife edge. We do not generate massive surpluses. If we generate a surplus, we plough it back into the game the following year.
If we did not have genuine concerns that the free-to-air proposal may have a devastating impact on our sport for generations to come, we would not be here. I emphasise that we favour the free-to-air broadcasting of our games, where feasible. We have excellent relations and a strong partnership with RTE. All of Ireland's Six Nations matches are available live on RTE. All of the provinces' Heineken Cup matches are available "as live" or as highlights on RTE. From September of this year, the Magners League will be shown free-to-air on RTE, TG4 and BBC Northern Ireland. We are supportive of free-to-air television.
The unintended consequence of this proposal would be to cost us between €10 million and €12 million per annum. That might just be the start of things. The unravelling of our current commercial arrangements with Six Nations Rugby Limited and European Rugby Cup Limited could have greater consequences. It would be catastrophic if we were told to paddle our own canoe. The figure I have provided is based on the difference between the annual television income we receive from the Six Nations and the European Cup — some €16 million — and what we would receive if each of our partners in those tournaments was told not to draw from the central pot, to negotiate its own television deal and to keep the revenue. Mr. Feehan and Mr. McGrath have spoken about this issue. As the Irish market is currently valued at approximately €5 million, that would leave us with a loss of approximately €11 million. It is very simple.
I have read the academic argument suggesting that we could sell our game to other markets. This ignores a basic fact of broadcasting, which is that television companies want to negotiate the rights to tournaments as a whole. One-off matches have no real value. The intrinsic value is in the tournament as a whole — all the matches in the tournament — regardless of whether it is rugby, soccer, Gaelic games or tennis. The tournament total is always greater than the sum of all its parts. That is fundamental to the argument we are making. Our plea is that a balanced approach should be taken to allow us, through our partnerships with Six Nations Rugby Limited and European Rugby Cup Limited, to seek to maximise our television revenues. If market forces prevail, RTE, TV3, TG4, Sky, ESPN, BBC, ITV and every other broadcaster will be able to compete. We understand the desire for free-to-air rugby for all, but this is utopia in a professional sport. No professional sport can survive on that basis. We fully support the existing balance, which is being maintained by European Rugby Cup Limited and Six Nations Rugby Limited. We believe we have managed our sport in a way that ensures we can fund the teams that provide the success which, in turn, generates the growth and popularity of our sport.
I will conclude by commenting on the effect of the loss of 20% of our income. It would create a number of issues for us. It would result in a significant reduction in the level of resources for professional rugby, with a probable reduction in the number of professional teams in this country. It would lead to less well resourced teams, which would be less successful, resulting in an inability to compete at the highest levels in World Cup, Olympic Games, Six Nations, Heineken Cup, Amlin Cup and Magners League competitions. Players are motivated by success as much as by anything else. They want to achieve success. If there are no successful teams in Ireland, our best players will move to countries where they can meet their ambitions as professional sportsmen. They will go to more successful and better resourced teams. That would lead to a severe reduction in the annual budget we can put aside for developing the game at club and school levels. It would lead to a rapid decline in Irish rugby. Ireland would become a second-tier rugby nation. That would mark the end of the game's mass appeal. This proposal is a serious threat to the rugby economy, the value of which we estimate at between €350 million and €370 million per annum. That is injected into the economy through sports tourism, direct employment and downstream employment. Nobody wants such a prospect. I assure the committee that it is a real prospect for us. I thank the committee for its time and courtesy. I am sorry if we went on a little bit.
