Australian Rugby / RA

[Braveheart81]

Came with more riders than the Melbourne Cup.

This is good and I will use it in the future.

 

[wamberal]

"The silent majority" is a term that was coined by that crook, Spiro Agnew, and utilised by that other crook Richard Nixon. In 1969!

 

[Mr Wobbly]

"The silent majority" is a term that was coined by that crook, Spiro Agnew, and utilised by that other crook Richard Nixon. In 1969!

I suspect that most people that use that term genuinely believe most people agree with them.

Until something inconvenient, like a referendum, comes along.

 

[cyclopath]

This is good and I will use it in the future.

I'd like to claim it as original. I'm not sure if it's something I subconsciously heard before but it kinda sprang into my head.

 

[barbarian]

Anyone know what this might mean for RA?

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sp...y/news-story/27102c0383d4f38764a78a0a28a9f636

The Rugby Championship and Super Rugby could end up partially in private hands as SANZAAR conducts due diligence on these and other options as private equity ventures circle the southern hemisphere rugby giants ahead of a vital meeting in London next week.


Private equity giant CVC Capital is close to buying stakes in the Six Nations and Europe’s Pro14 club competition as part of a global competition restructure that now, seemingly, is on the brink of including the southern hemisphere nations of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Japan.

Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle on Wednesday would not confirm that her organisation had met with any private equity firm, but she did indicate that Australia has been seriously investigating what a potential deal might look like

.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Anyone know what this might mean for RA?

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sp...y/news-story/27102c0383d4f38764a78a0a28a9f636

An influx of cash for one. It actually will be intreresting to see this flesh itself out. I suspect we'll end up seeing the Nations Championship in some way shape or form as well as potentially some kind of Club World Cup.

 

[RedsHappy]

Anyone know what this might mean for RA?

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sp...y/news-story/27102c0383d4f38764a78a0a28a9f636

Could mean a number of things, as the huge CVC PE player is placing big global bets on live, global sports becoming more and more valuable in the next decade (in terms of both above-norm % growth rates and raw EBITDA cash flows if managed optimally).

The article is light on specifics but the financial upside for RA could be simple - CVC buys a material % stake in the 6N and SANZAAR, designs a genuine world championship rugby Test cycle (long overdue) and sells the derived media rights from that globally integrated product offering to say ESPN or Amazon, RA in this process sells some or all of its equity stake in SANZAAR for (badly needed) hard cash and lands also a % share of the then truly global media rights payments.

Edit: the complexity of course in all this for SANZAAR is that SA and NZ have IIRC already sold their Super and Test media rights for 2021-25 to local broadcasters. I have doubts if such could be undone easily, but, you never know. If RA has serious trouble selling its media rights for this forward cycle as could happen, perhaps CVC Capital could be an unexpected saviour.

 

[RedsHappy]

To the above Q from Barb I would also add is this: CVC Capital is one tough business and financial operator, if they gained whole or even indirect capital-based influence over RA, things would never be the same there again, they would not tolerate what has been the historical managerial MO and operating style of RA.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

To the above Q from Barb I would also add is this: CVC Capital is one tough business and financial operator, if they gained whole or even indirect capital-based influence over RA, things would never be the same there again, they would not tolerate what has been the historical managerial MO and operating style of RA.

Yeah, they're very much in this to turn a profit so I cannot imagine they'd be too keen on all of the shenanigans that traditionally plagued the game here. I think this could be very interesting from a Super Rugby perspective. The rumours that keep making the rounds regarding a B&I League are said to be CVC's concept. Which would have a very real impact on Super Rugby if true.

 

[RedsHappy]

For those interested in the directly above, here is a link from the Financial Times of London a few days ago that gives more detail and coherence to the CVC Capital and related rugby matters as above. The link should work as I am subscriber and it's a 'gift link' (I hope):

https://on.ft.com/384r4VY

 

[Braveheart81]

To the above Q from Barb I would also add is this: CVC Capital is one tough business and financial operator, if they gained whole or even indirect capital-based influence over RA, things would never be the same there again, they would not tolerate what has been the historical managerial MO and operating style of RA.

For all of RA's faults, they would need to be careful that any partial sale only relates to the specific competitions and isn't a de facto stake or control of the organisation.

The generally shorter term focus and profit making goal of a PE firm doesn't really align with a not for profit whose role includes fostering the game and supporting clearly unprofitable initiatives such as juniors, women, grassroots etc.

 

[Tex]

Yeah, they're very much in this to turn a profit so I cannot imagine they'd be too keen on all of the shenanigans that traditionally plagued the game here. I think this could be very interesting from a Super Rugby perspective. The rumours that keep making the rounds regarding a B&I League are said to be CVC's concept. Which would have a very real impact on Super Rugby if true.

WCR, what's 'B&I League"?

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

For those interested in the directly above, here is a link from the Financial Times of London a few days ago that gives more detail and coherence to the CVC Capital and related rugby matters as above. The link should work as I am subscriber and it's a 'gift link' (I hope):

https://on.ft.com/384r4VY

Read it the other day. Some interesting highlights in there. Notably now WR (World Rugby) and CVC are having discussions.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

WCR, what's 'B&I League"?

British and Irish League.

 

[RedsHappy]

Read it the other day. Some interesting highlights in there. Notably now WR (World Rugby) and CVC are having discussions.

Yep, and the seeming CVC main focus on SA Rugby with the NZRU tacitly admitting it is somewhere in the discussion. RA gets the least mention.

WR (World Rugby) is smart enough to know - the big global sports will likely need additional capital in some form to compete for global market share and prosper in the medium/long terms.

 

[RedsHappy]

For all of RA's faults, they would need to be careful that any partial sale only relates to the specific competitions and isn't a de facto stake or control of the organisation.

The generally shorter term focus and profit making goal of a PE firm doesn't really align with a not for profit whose role includes fostering the game and supporting clearly unprofitable initiatives such as juniors, women, grassroots etc.

Well maybe so, but you are a conservative fellow BH . CVC Capital is not stupid, they already have substantial stakes in pro rugby (see FT link above) and would absolutely understand the crucial role of 'unprofitable' grass roots etc components in sustaining the viability of the code as a whole and particularly as an indispensable feeder to the pro layers.

IMO having a party like CVC - with its clear strategic interests in the fundamental health of the code globally - become highly influential in RA's management and strategy would very likely be better than what we have today and have endured for the last 10-15 years given what that period of ARU/RA oversight has delivered up for the code in Australia as it stands today.

 

[Braveheart81]

Well maybe so, but you are a conservative fellow BH . CVC Capital is not stupid, they already have substantial stakes in pro rugby (see FT link above) and would absolutely understand the crucial role of 'unprofitable' grass roots etc components in sustaining the viability of the code as a whole and particularly as an indispensable feeder to the pro layers.

IMO having a party like CVC - with its clear strategic interests in the fundamental health of the code globally - become highly influential in RA's management and strategy would very likely be better than what we have today and have endured for the last 10-15 years given what that period of ARU/RA oversight has delivered up for the code in Australia as it stands today.

That's it though, all their stakes are in professional competitions, not in the unions that govern the teams that make them up. I have no issue with that.

I get what you are saying that they are not idiots and would understand the importance of the sustained viability of the code, but likewise their horizon is likely to be much shorter than RA's. The goals and strategies will not be completely aligned.

I have no doubt that their management and strategy experience would be valuable to RA and would be an improvement on what we have in many areas. I wouldn't be handing over control to achieve that though.

RA as part of SANZAAR should be investigating a partial sale of the Rugby Championship and Super Rugby. The capital injection would benefit all parties and likewise, an organisation adept at maximising the financial potential of those competitions would be valuable.

In terms of RA itself though, I certainly don't think it would work and would be very surprised if "a slice" can effectively be sold based on the constitution.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

That's it though, all their stakes are in professional competitions, not in the unions that govern the teams that make them up. I have no issue with that.

I get what you are saying that they are not idiots and would understand the importance of the sustained viability of the code, but likewise their horizon is likely to be much shorter than RA's. The goals and strategies will not be completely aligned.

I have no doubt that their management and strategy experience would be valuable to RA and would be an improvement on what we have in many areas. I wouldn't be handing over control to achieve that though.

RA as part of SANZAAR should be investigating a partial sale of the Rugby Championship and Super Rugby. The capital injection would benefit all parties and likewise, an organisation adept at maximising the financial potential of those competitions would be valuable.

In terms of RA itself though, I certainly don't think it would work and would be very surprised if "a slice" can effectively be sold based on the constitution.

CVC hasn't bought into anything at the Union level. Just the commercial properties. It's been pretty clear that they've got no interest in administering anything beyond building the commercial side of the game. So, RA likely won't be selling any ownership of the actual sport to them. Just a stake in the commercial properties that low and behold will be treated as just that. Commercial entities oriented toward generating income. If CVC invest and buy their standard 27% in Super Rugby and the RC and manage to grow them then revenues that can then be directed toward the game in terms of support and development should also increase.

 

[RedsHappy]

CVC hasn't bought into anything at the Union level. Just the commercial properties. It's been pretty clear that they've got no interest in administering anything beyond building the commercial side of the game. So, RA likely won't be selling any ownership of the actual sport to them. Just a stake in the commercial properties that low and behold will be treated as just that. Commercial entities oriented toward generating income. If CVC invest and buy their standard 27% in Super Rugby and the RC and manage to grow them then revenues that can then be directed toward the game in terms of support and development should also increase.

Yeah sure. But to think that a party like CVC C if in taking an influential stake in, say, Super Rugby and RC and somehow linking same to their whole world game position and strategy will just sit there and let the status quo RA, NZRU and SARU bodies 'do it like they always did' is kidding themselves. They will want a big say in how those comps are structured, profiled, organised, coached, media-focussed and so on as that's where their ultimate financial return/ROI will arise.

And Super Rugby 2020 version is a mediocre mess of a thing, everybody sees that, CVC C will want to (and need to given the likely investment size) fix it and fix it properly. They'll likely want major changes to the RC as well.

The point being: if this all happens as is speculated upon, the flow down effect into the encrusted and historical ways of the noted RUs will inevitably be major in terms of management quality, coaching quality, media strategies, comp design, team design and so on.

The pro layer is big and business-critical for these RU bodies, hence my view that, should the CVC C maybe-a-plan end up as real, things will never be the same again for the national RUs so engaged.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Yeah sure. But to think that a party like CVC C if in taking an influential stake in, say, Super Rugby and RC and somehow linking same to their whole world game position and strategy will just sit there and let the status quo RA, NZRU and SARU bodies 'do it like they always did' is kidding themselves. They will want a big say in how those comps are structured, profiled, organised, coached, media-focussed and so on as that's where their ultimate financial return/ROI will arise.

And Super Rugby 2020 version is a mediocre mess of a thing, everybody sees that, CVC C will want to (and need to given the likely investment size) fix it and fix it properly. They'll likely want major changes to the RC as well.

The point being: if this all happens as is speculated upon, the flow down effect into the encrusted and historical ways of the noted RUs will inevitably be major in terms of management quality, coaching quality, media strategies, comp design, team design and so on.

The pro layer is big and business-critical for these RU bodies, hence my view that, should the CVC C maybe-a-plan end up as real, things will never be the same again for the national RUs so engaged.

I agree and have held the perspective for some time that Super Rugby in particular needed to be treated as a commercial venture as opposed to how it has been by the Unions as a mear means to select a Test squad. I've even held the view that the professional game should be entirely administered separate from the participation side. And if CVC are willing to come in and force through those changes that in turn leads to growth of the commercial end of these structures then great. More power to them.

Braveheart's query had more to do with what influence they'll have on the participation side in terms of ownership and structures. Which going from their current investments that's little to nothing. Them growing the commercial value of Super Rugby and the RC will have benefits. If in 5 years they manage to triple Super Rugby and the RC value even with them taking their cut that would mean more money flowing into the game. Which never hurts.