Ventilation | Summer Squeeze asks the question of rugby business with private equity | sport



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SThe lease of the lease has an even shorter date for rugby union fans. The English season slips in June this weekend and will remain there for at least 12 years, ending at the end of the month rather than the beginning.

The Cricket World Cup begins before the end of the rugby season, quite different from the one when the campaign started on September 1st and ended on April 30th. The game requires more money, although English football seems to want to prove that you never have enough.

It's been a season that private equity sees rugby as a profit vector. He has acquired a substantial share of Premiership Rugby, of which all but one member is losing money. They are in advanced talks with the Pro14 and are eager to join the Six Nations.

Premiership Rugby may be able to wait a few years before deciding whether it has made the right decision, although its decision to reject a majority takeover offer has been cautious given the experience gained by the capital companies. -investment such as British Steel, Monarch, Comet, Debenhams. and Saga.

"Investment capital looks more and more like a racket of exploitation," wrote one commentator. Another wrote: "Often contracts are motivated by the desire to make money rather than by improving the business model of the company. While there is much to admire about (some) private equity firms, the pursuit of fanciful returns has often brought out the absolute worst of these deals. "

Premiership Rugby has at least retained control, but details of the fine print have not been revealed. The HVAC strategy, which paid 200 million pounds for its 27%, was also not won. By taking control of the commercial branch, he will not be able to recover his investment, and even more so, by leveraging the organization's debt, but since he will realize more than a quarter of the Every year, he will have to find a considerable amount of new money if the clubs are to profit from it.

Same thing for the Pro14 and the Six Nations, although the latter has the option of the World Rugby League of Nations proposal, a plan that would not see a high percentage coming out of the game every year. This poses a risk of relegation for both hemisphere championships, but as a means of developing the game around the world and reducing the financial gap between North and South, it undoubtedly takes precedence over private equity.

Without the league of nations, Super Rugby will become unfeasible as players migrate to Europe or Japan. The first two letters of Sale could represent South Africa after their recent recruitment: five signatures of the Sharks (two on loan) and one of the Blue Bulls arriving at AJ Bell Stadium where are Faf de Klerk and Rohan Janse van Rensburg residence.

It may also be that the Lions will play only five warm-up matches in South Africa during the 2021 tour in that country, but will face a competition of sufficient quality, rather than competitive, to prepare them for a series. tests in which the majority of The Springboks are likely to be based outside the country?

Speaking of Lions, Warren Gatland will be officially announced next month as head coach of the tour, which he did not envision two years after returning from the draw series in New Zealand. "I hated the press and negativity in New Zealand," he said at the time. "It's time to let someone else do it."

Gatland's position then also had something to do with attempts to shorten a week-long Lions tour without further training before flying away. The Pro14 advanced its final in 2021 a week to help the tourists, but the Premiership final will be held again on the weekend when the team leaves for South Africa.

Compare that to the many training camps that countries are organizing this summer before the World Cup. This means that elite players will not have a long break before 12 months unless suffering an injury, which, statistically, will be the case for many of them. Premiership clubs are financially rewarded by the Rugby Football Union for releasing players at every rally in England, but when Lions offered to pay for the 2013 final, a week is planned to allow Gatland and his coaches to have seven days to prepare. toured Australia, they were turned down.

Clubs emphasize the demanding nature of a Lions tour of their players, but nothing has been said about the busy schedule of this summer, which includes four international matches. The World Cup will be followed by a rugby regime of European clubs and clubs non-stop before the Six Nations. The final in England will take place on June 20 and a week later in France.

Lions are in a hurry, victims of rugby politics. Under the League of Nations plan, they would be protected and a question for Six Nations this year because it reflects competing offers of World Rugby and PE, not what the impact of relegation would be, but is he ready to point out the primacy of international rugby and take charge?

The interest of private equity firms has been portrayed as a sign of strength of the rugby union, but they sniff out weakness and exploit it ruthlessly.

This is an excerpt from our weekly Rugby Union e-mail, the Breakdown. To subscribe, visit this page and follow the instructions.

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