It is a cliche nowadays to say professional rugby union is at a crossroads. That implies there is still the option of chugging on serenely without changing direction when, in truth, the sport sits at a major T-junction. Turn left in search of massive wealth and prosperity for a chosen few or right for the salvation of the wider global game? The choice facing Europe’s leading unions in Dublin this week could not be starker.
On the one hand they have the chance to solve all their financial headaches at a stroke, courtesy of a bid from the private equity firm CVC to buy a 30% share of the Six Nations championship and the autumn Tests for a figure not unadjacent to £500m. On the other they could throw their weight behind the latest Nations League proposals which World Rugby hopes will revitalise the international game for all from 2020. Doing nothing is not an option.
As they ponder which way to turn, a couple of small but crucial points are worth bearing in mind. When a private equity firm offers half a billion quid for something, it pays to examine its motives very closely indeed. Formula One is still repenting at leisure from selling out to CVC over a decade ago, having now experienced how it feels when profit generated by the sport subsequently disappears straight into the pockets of external shareholders. Does rugby really want to find itself in a similarly compromised position?
More importantly, what would it mean for everyone else if the leading European nations strike a deal that its southern hemisphere counterparts can only dream about? Rugby is already suffering financially in Australia and South Africa, with New Zealand propped up by the strength of the All Black brand. If even more power and wealth becomes concentrated in Europe, leaving everyone else either to fend for themselves or to beg for an occasional slice of someone else’s pie, the growth of the game in other parts of the world would be seriously compromised.
Those on the inside insist that “Project Light”, as the European unions collective plan of action has been code-named, was being pursued long before World Rugby floated the idea of a 12-team Nations League, crucially now with promotion and relegation attached.
They are also keen to stress CVC is not the only potential backer interested and that nothing has yet been formally agreed. It is no secret, however, that several unions, including the Rugby Football Union, are lukewarm at best about World Rugby’s proposals and will require a lot of convincing around the Dublin negotiating table.
If it solely comes down to money there is only one winner. But hang on. What happens if CVC do go ahead and purchase their Six Nations stake, having already invested in Premiership Rugby and, potentially, the Pro14 as well?
It would leave the sport at the mercy of people who, by definition, are more interested in making a buck than preserving the rhythms of the world’s oldest tournament. And what happens after five or 10 years when or if they want their money back? Would they seek to try and prioritise the club game or the international windows? Would they be providing a much-needed cash transfusion or sucking the lifeblood from rugby’s core tenets of integrity and mutual regard?
For the kind of traditional rugby fans whose only vague knowledge of CVC is when someone asks for the last three numbers on the back of their bank card, these are not straightforward questions to answer. They are not entirely simple, either, for those who can add up and are staring with increasing alarm at less-than-healthy balance sheets in dire need of resuscitation.
In that sense CVC and other would-be investors could not have picked a more opportune moment to flash their cash: rugby is desperate for fresh capital to help enhance the sport’s global profile and maximise its potential. For years Six Nations officials took the view that “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”; World Rugby, even now, has declined to invite leading club representatives along to Dublin. The last summit in San Francisco in 2017 was meant to have nailed down the global calendar until 2032; now everything is up in the air again.
What happens next will shape rugby, for better or worse, for generations.