Rugby is not only a national passion but also a significant economic engine. An analysis by ANZ Research estimated that the Fijian Drua contributed 108 million Fiji dollars to gross domestic product during the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season. RNZ reported that the study was authored by ANZ economists Dr Kishti Sen and Tom Kenny and that the club’s footprint includes visitor spending, sponsorship flows and match day operations. “The Fijian Drua generated an unprecedented FJ$108 million contribution to GDP,” RNZ wrote.
FijiVillage also highlighted the estimate and framed it as a benchmark for sports-led development. The data give sponsors and local authorities a clearer way to measure return on investment for events, transport, security and hospitality resourcing on match weekends. “108 million has been injected into and generated for the nation’s GDP by the Fijian Drua,” the outlet reported.
Study authors Sen and Kenny, argue that sport can be a platform for investment in venues, transport and events capability that pays back year after year. The impact is visible in hotel occupancy spikes on match weekends, full restaurants in Nadi and Lautoka and heavy seat factors on domestic flights. Local small businesses have leaned in with pop-up food stalls, merchandise and transport services.
Tourism Fiji and city councils have worked to package short-break itineraries around home games, which stretches the visitor season and brings different demographics. There are caveats. The benefit relies on sustained competitive fixtures, good scheduling and careful crowd management. To deepen the upside, analysts suggest integrating community rugby festivals and women’s fixtures into home rounds and investing in public transport links to reduce congestion. The 2025 season has shown that sport can pull economic levers that conventional marketing often struggles to reach.
For small businesses, the practical advice is to plan inventory and staffing around fixtures to capture the surge in demand. For Tourism Fiji and resort operators, there is an opportunity to package tickets with stays and excursions that lengthen visitor nights. Weather and scheduling can still affect yields, yet the broader message is that professional sport now sits alongside tourism and aviation as a driver of services growth.
