 England grabbed World Cup glory in Sydney |
The 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia made a surplus of �64.3m - a 36% increase on the return from the 1999 tournament hosted by Wales. The International Rugby Board said attendances for the six-week tournament topped 1.9m, with an average of 39,580.
Ticket sales netted �30.4m, and total receipts were �81.8m, compared to �70m in 1999.
The money made from last year's event will be used by the IRB to fund rugby's development over the next four years.
But the Board promised to do more to bolster the rugby minnows, admitting some of the smaller countries had been unable to field their strongest teams because club commitments.
An IRB statement said: "It is recognised that greater attention must be paid to closing the gap between the 'haves' and the 'have nots'."
The 20 competing teams shared �4m, with each receiving at least �150,000.
The quarter-finalists received �250,000 and the semi-finalists �300,000.
The IRB also announced that 511 drug tests were carried out, including 307 out-of-competition controls and checks for the new designer steroid THG. All were negative.
The cumulative television audience for the World Cup was 3.4bn in 194 countries. 
MMIX
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