Springboks v All Blacks: Huge payday awaits SA Rugby and NZ Rugby for taking RGR Test to Baltimore
Springboks back Kurt-Lee Arendse jumps for the ball with All Blacks winger Josh Moorby and an inset of the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
The Springboks and All Blacks collide in the United States of America for the first time in their history in the final Test match of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.
The reason why they have taken the fourth game of the series to the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore is a simple one: money.
SA Rugby and NZ Rugby will benefit from a huge financial windfall for taking the match to the United States of America, which is expected to be a sellout at the home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.
SA Rugby & NZ Rugby’s financial windfall from Baltimore Test
The match in the US is set to earn the two unions R90 million (approx. NZ$9.6 million) more than if the match had been staged in South Africa, according to a report by The Daily Maverick.
The publication adds that the first three Tests in Johannesburg and Cape Town earned between R60 million (approx. NZ$6.4 million) and R80 million (approx. NZ$8.5 million).
South Africa Rugby Union chief executive Rian Oberholzer didn’t hide from the fact that the ploy to take the game to the US was to top up the two unions’ coffers.
“This game was always about finding an option where we could make as much financial gain as we could,” he said.
“At SA Rugby, it is essential that we keep working on our financial stability. To do that, we have to take our brand wider than South Africa.”
The inflated income from the Baltimore Test match includes a fee from World Rugby, according to the report, which is incentivising teams to take fixtures to America in the build-up to the 2031 Rugby World Cup.
While this is the first time that the two nations meet on US soil, both the Springboks and All Blacks have taken Test matches to America before. South Africa beat the USA 38-7 back in 1981 and 43-10 in 2001. Rassie Erasmus’ first game as head coach of the Boks was against Wales in Washington, DC, with South Africa falling to a 22-20 defeat.
New Zealand have played five previous tests in the US, winning four and losing one between 2014 and 2024. They beat the USA twice (74-6 in 2014 and 104-14 in 2021), Fiji (47-5 in 2024) and Ireland (26-13 in 2025).
The All Blacks have played at Soldier Field in Chicago three times, including a first-ever loss to Ireland in 2016 (40-29), while this is their second visit to the state of Maryland, after the 2021 victory at FedEx Field.
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The precise income figures for the RGR tour have not been made public as of yet but will be revealed in the 2026 financial statements next year.
It is theorised that the tour won’t match the earnings of the 2026 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia – Aus$146.8-million (R1.69-billion) – but it is likely to balance the books of the two unions.