Probyn: All Blacks deal puts CVC 6 Nations cash in shade
JEFF PROBYN
Well, who would have thought it? Rugby seems to be the new darling of the investment industry and those who have taken the first offer now appear to be somewhat inept.
An American investment company (Silver Lake) is said to be close to reaching an agreement with New Zealand rugby for a 15 per cent share of the business for a mere
$2b dollars, almost £1.5b.
This should make the Six Nations re-think as to whether it would be the right decision to sign up to CVC’s offer of just £365m for 14.5 per cent.
Even though the New Zealand All Black brand is one of the biggest in the rugby world, it’s a relatively small country with a population of just under five million and is ranked at around the 51st richest nation.
Whereas the UK and France share a population of over 130m and are ranked the fourth and fifth wealthiest nations respectively.
This is also reflected in the size of rugby playing populations, with New Zealand in the region of 150,000 compared to the Six Nations’ approximate 2.5m players and hundreds of thousands of expats in other countries. This surely means the Six Nations has by far the bigger global footprint and a larger growth potential.
The environment for the financial growth of all rugby nations is interlinked with all countries reliant on games with other nations to raise ‘brand’ awareness and increase profits for investors.
One obvious outcome of giving some control to any investment companies could be to restrict the growth and spread of the game, as the companies will inevitably seek to ‘protect’ their investment with fewer games across the different tiers.
Investment companies have relatively short-term goals that can realistically be achieved only by the big games between top teams that people will pay more to watch. Which in a way explains the reluctance of the Premiership to entertain a cup competition with teams in the lower leagues.
The unions should take heed of the concerns that have been voiced by World Rugby with regard to this current trend of ‘cherry picking’ the prime nations and engaging in competitions that will allow a level of control to various investment companies who have no real long-term concern for the game as a whole.
Unfortunately, given the current financial crisis all unions are facing as a result of the virus, it is highly likely they will ignore the possible ramifications for the game at large and just take the money.