Mark Robinson, the chief executive (CEO) of the New Zealand Rugby (NZR) union governing body, has announced his resignation, stating that he will step back from the post at the end of 2025.
The driving force behind Robinson’s move was for him to reunite with his family, who are currently living in Australia.
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Robinson joined the body in April 2013 after being elected as a board member, and then stepped in as the organization's CEO in January 2020 to replace long-serving then-chief Steve Tew, who had been in the role since 2007.
Since 2014, Robinson has also been NZR’s delegate to the World Rugby global governing body’s council, executive committee, and rugby committee.
Robinson was the first former New Zealand international player to take up the position as the governing body’s chief executive.
Speaking on his departure, Robinson stated: “The past six years have been a period of rapid change, or unprecedented challenges through the pandemic, and significant evolution across commercial, competitions, and structures.
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By GlobalData“I will reflect on that as I get closer to stepping away, but I firmly believe the foundations of our organization are extremely strong and the game is well-placed for the future.
Robinson’s tenure as CEO has coincided with a period of hardship for NZR, particularly given the travails of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as struggling nature of rugby union’s global commercials as of late, which has been reflected in the body’s annual financial report posted in May, in which it announced a loss of NZ$19.5 million ($11.6 million) despite bringing in record income for the 2024 financial year.
NZR has posted an annual profit just once since 2017, with that coming in the 2021 financial year, but was followed up by a loss of NZ$47.5 million in the following 2022 fiscal period, which came despite a surge in revenue.
During Robinson’s tenure, NZR also sold a minority stake in its commercial business to Silver Lake in 2022, with the pair setting up the New Zealand Rugby Commercial (NZRC) arm to house the organization’s rights.
Most recently, NZR confirmed a multi-year sponsorship agreement with insurance firm Gallagher, which becomes the official insurance broker of NZR, with the brand's logo now set to appear on both the training and match day shorts of all NZR’s representative national teams, including the men's All Blacks, women's Black Ferns, Māori All Blacks, and Sevens teams.
The company is the second sponsor to take on the assets relinquished by British petrochemical giant Ineos, which pulled out of its six-year sponsorship with NZR halfway through the deal.
The Ineos agreement, signed in 2021 and worth a reported $4.5 million per year, was due to cover the 2022 to 2027 period, with Ineos branding appearing on the back of playing shorts and on the front of training jerseys for the men’s and women’s senior sides, as well as the New Zealand Māori team and New Zealand sevens team.
Last month, Japanese automobile company Toyota signed a multimillion-dollar sponsorship agreement with NZR to feature its branding across training jerseys and various training kit for all New Zealand national teams as part of a three-year deal.
In April, NZR finally reached a settlement agreement with Ineos following their dispute over the early termination.
Robinson continued: "My focus now is on supporting the board and leading the organization through a pivotal year, including ensuring the Black Ferns have the support they need to defend the Rugby World Cup in England. We also remain focused on implementing a new financial model for the game in New Zealand and completing the remaining work on what will be an exciting future international calendar.”
