I was intrigued to read this morning that the proposed $200 million investment in New Zealand Rugby by global finance company Silver Lake - which has been agreed by NZR and currently awaits ratification by the provincial unions and Maori Rugby Board – may, in fact, just be the tip of the iceberg.
Further US Investment in international professional rugby – via New Zealand – is likely to follow, with an as yet un-named US investment group planning a whopping $2.5 billion investment which, it is reported, will come with a series of conditions, including radical changes to the game to make rugby more TV friendly to a US audience such as:
· Dividing the game into 4 quarters of 20 minutes each
· Half time “Super Bowl” style entertainment
· Continuous rolling substitutions
· Overtime until a result is confirmed during which a player on each side is removed from the field of play every 10 minutes
· Allowing forward passes (already in operation in Super Rugby)
The proposed investment is therefore rightly being described as a “quite literally a game changer” by sources within New Zealand, with initial indications that the proposal is likely to be supported by the vast majority of international unions, with the only exception being the RFU who, it is reported, remain convinced that the current matchday experience at Twickenham is second to none.
