Six Nations: Private equity giants CVC complete deal for share in tournament

So what do you all think ?

Good or bad ?

CVC has spent £365m for a 14% share of the 6N.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/56359501

More money at the moment is a good thing. Free to air games are a step forwards to going though. Just hoping its not amazon.

No 7&1/2 wrote:More money at the moment is a good thing. Free to air games are a step forwards to going though. Just hoping its not amazon.

losing free to air games will be a disaster.

Depends how the unions use the money. And how the highlights are sold ie advertised to the public. A good highlights package can do more to sell the game than live events.

The 6N committee might feel they know and like CVC and understand their commercial plans. What they won't know is who CVC will eventually sell their 6N share to, in order to make their real PE profit.
The press release talks about a long term plan, but then gives the game away when they state that is five years, which in investment terms is barely medium term. However the PE model for investment returns is typically five years and hence the press release details are not a coincidence.

Yep private equity only exists for one purpose, I'd hope that the controls and decision making power are in place to deal with their inevitable demands.

Personally I don’t see how private equity can benefit rugby in the long term, rugby union is not a very profitable industry. Surely there are better investment opportunities out there if profit is your number one goal

I can only speak from personal experience, but being a working class child attending a state school I had never played or watched rugby until one Saturday afternoon when I was about 14/15 and a friend who was at my house asked if we could watch Scotland v Wales on the BBC. It was, literally, a revelation. I remember in the pre-digital download days that record companies regularly surveyed record buyers to find out how they discovered the music they bought and almost always the most frequent answer was, "heard it at a friend's/heard about it from a friend'" . Now, if rugby becomes PPV then how do children whose parents don't subscribe, or whose schools do not play rugby, fall in love with the game?
For decades now the Five/Six Nations has been like Wimbledon: people who never watch the sport suddenly become transfixed. Some of them fall in love with it and seek out their local clubs, many forget about it till next year. Selling out to PPV won't help this.

jimbopip wrote:I can only speak from personal experience, but being a working class child attending a state school I had never played or watched rugby until one Saturday afternoon when I was about 14/15 and a friend who was at my house asked if we could watch Scotland v Wales on the BBC. It was, literally, a revelation. I remember in the pre-digital download days that record companies regularly surveyed record buyers to find out how they discovered the music they bought and almost always the most frequent answer was, "heard it at a friend's/heard about it from a friend'" . Now, if rugby becomes PPV then how do children whose parents don't subscribe, or whose schools do not play rugby, fall in love with the game?
For decades now the Five/Six Nations has been like Wimbledon: people who never watch the sport suddenly become transfixed. Some of them fall in love with it and seek out their local clubs, many forget about it till next year. Selling out to PPV won't help this.

100% I could not put this better myself. Well done. What a heartfelt well articulated post.

This issue I also have with the Pro14 as well.

Thanks jimbopip, you have seriously made me think that the world is not turning on it's head, I am so glad there is somebody out there who sees this the same way I do.

LD, you know you can get professional help don't you?

LordDowlais wrote:So what do you all think ?

Good or bad ?

Bad. Power is more important than money. Once you give it away you're not getting it back.

Old Man wrote:Personally I don’t see how private equity can benefit rugby in the long term, rugby union is not a very profitable industry. Surely there are better investment opportunities out there if profit is your number one goal

It is going to be a turbulent decade and beyond for investment. Investing in something like rugby, which is backed by large public economies like the UK, France, and now Japan, with room to develop in to the USA, isn't a bad way to spend money in the hope of making profit.

It will change the face of rugby. We will never see another Exeter Chiefs again. It is anti-competitive, let alone anti-rugby values, in the name of milking profit out of the very top end of the sport, which for the fans probably means expensive commercial and broadcasting deals.

I wonder how the likes of Italy and Samoa will fare.

jimbopip wrote:LD, you know you can get professional help don't you?

But I am serious about what you posted.