STAND BY FOR THE FIRST £1m RUGBY PLAYER
Bristol chief targets stars like Nonu
BILLIONAIRE Steve Lansdown, English rugby’s new power broker, made his fortune from financial services — so he knows all about market value. Having financed Bristol’s promotion to the Aviva Premiership, the self-made tycoon is now plotting his club’s next charge.
Lansdown, 64, is worth an estimated £1.4billion — almost five times the value of Bath owner Bruce Craig — and has 20 years of board experience with his other team, Bristol City Football Club.
He sees sport as ‘an entertainment business’ and, with a sizeable chequebook, believes England will soon have its first player on £1million a year. And Lansdown makes no secret of his aim to attract star players such as All Blacks centre Ma’a Nonu — a double World Cup winner with more than 100 caps.
‘The market is dictating these glamour signings,’ says Lansdown, speaking to Sportsmail from his office in Guernsey. ‘I’m sure the first million-pound player isn’t that far away.
‘The international game has far greater influence in rugby. The FA are a bit of a laughing stock after the Euros. How does the national side inspire people like it did in 1966? It’s just not there.
‘People pay extra to see usain Bolt, don’t they? Football is so far ahead in monetary terms but rugby is creeping that way with the expectations of players and agents. TV money is going up and agents are demanding longer contracts which develops a transfer market. When you see Manchester united paying £89m for Paul Pogba, you realise there’s a long way to go, but it could still go that way.’
With a redeveloped 27,000-seat stadium, Ashton Gate, shared with Bristol City, Lansdown (right) hopes ‘a few sell-outs’ will aid a profitable business model.
The Bristolian wants to emulate and eclipse the success of Exeter Chiefs, but accepts that demands for instant silverware are unrealistic.
‘I believe there’s nothing you can’t achieve,’ says Lansdown, who began trading from a bedroom in 1981, now flies by private jet and shares a safari lodge in Africa.
‘ Do we expect to compete at the top end of the division this year? No, but we expect to work towards it. ‘People ask if we can win the European Cup. Yes, we can. There’s a lot to happen before then but we’re aiming for the top. Could we do something special next year? Who knows? Maybe we’ll do a lot better than we anticipate.’ Despite being linked with big names such as Danny Cipriani, Bristol’s summer recruitment has been restricted by the narrow window after the play- off final win over Doncaster at the end of May. Having won the regular season several times, Andy Robinson’s side have continuously fallen at the play-off hurdle. With no guarantee of topflight rugby, it had been hard to attract the top players but now Lansdown wants reforms. ‘The play- off system is wrong,’ says Lansdown, whose team start the new season tomorrow against Harlequins at Twickenham. ‘ It’s been painful. It’s not right to win the league and then not be promoted because of a one-off series. It makes you wonder why you invest in the game.
‘We didn’t have much time over the summer but we’re now at least in a position where we can attract those players.
‘If I attract 27,000 to watch my team on a regular basis, I should be able to reinvest in the squad. Of course, we’d like to attract someone like Ma’a Nonu.
‘The ambition is to get the best possible players on our pitch. I’d like to develop them ourselves (but) every now and then you supplement them.’
Eager to reawaken a sleeping giant, Lansdown hopes to ‘re-educate’ Bristol on rugby.
‘Bristol’s been starved of top rugby,’ he says. ‘I like to think we’ll be getting close to 20,000plus compared to the 4,000 or so from the Championship. I see an opportunity to look to the future.’ QUINS’ England full back Mike Brown is recovering from a mystery infection and will miss tomorrow’s clash against Bristol. He is expected to be in contention for next Friday’s trip to Sale.