Rory McIlroy's firm writes down $99 million in images rights

Rory McIlroy's management and image rights company has recorded a staggering pre-tax loss of £79.4m last year.

The paper-only loss stems from a non-cash write-down of $99m in the value of McIlroy's lifetime image rights.

The figures show that revenues at Rory McIlroy Management Services (RMMS) Ltd last year totalled $21.7m, which equates to $418,269 per week, although revenues did decline by 15% from the previous years.

A spokeswoman for McIlroy said yesterday: "RMMS Ltd own and manage Rory's lifetime image rights. Each year, the directors review the value of these rights. The value the directors assign fluctuates in line with changes in Rory's operating environment.” 

Well, that's crystal clear....

At the start of last year, the company had a massive $400m book value placed on McIlroy's image rights, but this decreased to $280m at the end of last year.

The write-down does seem strange to us at a time when Rory has reported signed a 10-year deal with Nike worth $250 million. Rory's firm did at least pay $2.1 million in corporation tax, so everything appears above board, despite this significant write-off.

Rory is unlikely to be too put out by this paper-loss, as Forbes magazine last year estimating that he earned $42.5m in 2016 - $35m from endorsements and $7.5m in winnings.

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