World Rugby issues fears over CVC deal

Investment group eyes £300m Six Nations stake We need to know plans, insists governing body

As it prepares to launch its showcase World Cup for the first time in new markets in Asia, World Rugby has admitted that it has concerns that private equity firm CVC Capital Partners is about to conclude a £300million deal with the Six Nations that would see it cede 15 per cent of its commercial rights, with particular reference that its authority might be “usurped”.

The principal area of worry would be about a possible loss of control over its competition structure and more demands on players.

The governing body spent months trying to deliver its own deal with private finance sources only for its £5 billion vision of a global Nations Championship that would release funding back to member unions to be rejected by its northern hemisphere members. Those selfsame people are now close to confirming that they have reached agreement with CVC for a partial buy-in to its future business.

“As big an investor in the sport as a private equity firm like CVC will create influence, and that’s something that in some areas could concern us,” said World Rugby chief executive, Brett Gosper, at the official launch media conference for the World Cup in Japan.

“The area that concerns you is that when a high-funding commercial owner of the sport that isn’t the governing body comes in, then certain calls might be made that aren’t in the interests of growth or perhaps of player welfare.

‘‘We want to make sure it’s for the right reasons.

“We have a couple of watch-outs and concerns, but I’m sure we’ll have a chance to discuss those with the Six Nations. There are elements of commonality, even if there are some divergences. We would want to make sure it’s being done for the right reasons and that our influence wasn’t being usurped.”

CVC has become an emerging player in rugby. It secured a 27 per cent share in Premiership Rugby for £230million last December and is close to extending that sphere of commercial involvement with a similar arrangement with Pro14 worth in the region of £115million.

This push towards extending its frontiers of influence is likely to have been done with a view to bundling up all the spheres of involvement into a new television deal that could be sold to the highest bidder.

Such a package could see part of the Six Nations championship, a blue-chip package, taken off terrestrial TV and broadcast instead on satellite outlets. The fact that the Six Nations is on terrestrial television brings the sport enormous exposure each year with peak viewing figures in the region of 9million.

Likewise, the World Cup will see all 48 matches shown on ITV. The current television deal for the Six Nations is a split between ITV and BBC. It runs out in two years’ time.

The battle for control of the sport is a monetary one in essence with the far richer unions in the northern hemisphere now able to manoeuvre themselves into a position where they hold the whip hand due to its well-stocked coffers.

That disparity is already in play, with the major unions of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa forced to put a finger in the dyke to try to retain their players and prevent them from signing big deals with clubs in England and France.

World Rugby has long been aware of the brawn-drain to the north and the knock-on effect on those countries, which is why it set in motion its own project to secure funding ring-fence its authority.

As CVC’S moves became both clearer and more pronounced, World Rugby was able to put a counterproposal on the table in March that projected that a Nations Championship would yield £5billion for all its 123 member unions over a 12-year period.

The competitive aim was to have effectively a league system between the top-10 ranked sides each year. World Rugby did have discussions with CVC at one point but was not prepared to cede control.

“We had another alternative on the table when we were looking at investment in the global game and how we could take the global game forward,” said Gosper.

“We generated the possibility of high funding.

‘‘The Six Nations have decided to take another route. The other deal has been shrouded so we can’t really comment at this stage whether it’s good or bad.

“It’s important we understand from CVC exactly what their medium to long-term plans are and then we can react.”