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The name of the Pro14 club rugby competition is changing, adding more teams from South Africa and agreeing on new broadcasting agreements, the first sign that private equity firm CVC Capital Partners is aiming to innovate the sport.
The buying team paid £ 120 million 28 percent stake in last year’s tournament, among other rugby deals, it aims to reshape the world game by changing the way it is sold to sports fans, sponsors and broadcasters.
The competition is an annual tournament held by teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and South Africa under the name “United Rugby Championship”, according to people familiar with the decision.
These people said they have also reached new television agreements for the start of the 2021/2022 season in September, including the UK in the UK, RTE in Ireland and SuperSports in South Africa. Organizers will also be launching a new worldwide subscription playback service for fans.
The goal is to screen as many games as possible on TV to reach the widest possible audience, with broadcast bids reaching the competition’s annual revenue of £ 55 million, up from € 25 million last year.
Tournaments can still be difficult to get new spectators and revenue. He is interested in national rugby competitions such as the Six European Nations, the Southern Hemisphere Rugby Championship and the Rugby World Cup.
According to people around the decision, the newly-named United Rugby Championship will play fewer matches this weekend when international matches are held and the club’s star players represent their national teams.
Along with his participation in Pro14, CVC has won the English Premiership Rugby and Six Nations, The main European rugby tournament.
The plan for the United Rugby Championship shows that CVC intends to act as a powerbroker between the different teams that lead the sport, improving the value of its investments.
The Luxembourg-based team, which owns Formula and Moto GP, has tended to take minimal stakes in sports competitions, seeking commercial control as it will unify TV rights for different competitions and sell them to broadcasters.
In addition to rugby, the purchasing team has also acquired a stake in the global governing body of volleyball and has maintained recent investment talks, including ATP and WTP, men’s and women’s tennis tours, Italian Serie A football league, and the U.S. basketball franchise San Antonio spurs.
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The United Rugby Championship will be extended to 14 to 16 teams. The two South African sides, the Southern Kings and the Cheetahs, have left the competition but will replace four of the country’s biggest teams: the Lions, Stormers, Sharks and Bulls.
Over time, the South African Rugby Union will also become a shareholder in the competition, linking it to some of the first European unions.
CVC has also discussed investing in South Africa in Rugby and is in talks to create the best Club World Cup for rugby clubs in the world. The recent impact of the CVC on rugby has helped to move the talks forward and a new global competition could be launched in 2024, according to people close to the discussions.
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