England and France in their clash at Twickenham, December 6, 2020. -

Adrian DENNIS / AFP

  • CVC Capital Partners, a Luxembourg investment fund, will pay more than 300 million euros to the federations of the VI Nations to take 14% of its capital.

  • Passed by Formula 1, CVC will seek to promote the TV rights of the Blues matches and will bring new money to the FFR.

  • In France, opponents of Bernard Laporte and the LNR fear that the top 14 is the victim of a new annual calendar that would obey the desires of investment funds.

Last I heard, still no arrests because of wild party in the premises of the French Rugby Federation well after the time of curfew.

There would be something, however.

Bleed financially by the consequences of the epidemic - 35 million less revenue on the budget, a deficit estimated between 10 and 15 million euros at the end of the year according to the latest report from the board of directors - the FFR will see the tickets raining from the gray skies of Marcoussis.

In the pipes for two years, the entry of the investment fund company CVC Capital Partners in the capital of the VI Nations tournament has just been approved by the federations concerned, subject to the finalization of legal details.

The tournament valued at 2.4 billion euros

In exchange for this sensational arrival, the Luxembourg fund, which made itself known by multiplying the value of Formula 1, pledged to pay more than 300 million pounds (yes, in rugby, it's the Pound that rule) to its new partners over five years.

Reduced to the share of France, this represents 13 million euros more in the coffers for each of the next five fiscal years, pending more.

CVC arrives to manage the commercial rights of teams in the northern hemisphere.

Clear ?

Maximize TV rights to make a good profit before leaving, a win-win deal for everyone according to the Fédé: "There are many sports which would like that in this period of crisis, an actor comes to invest such a sum to contribute to its development ”.

Obviously, not all French rugby shares this euphoric reading of the figures.

Starting with Florian Grill, always on the war footing.

The leader of the opposition, beaten by a breath in the last federal election, very officially wrote to the Ministry of Sports to request an audit of the CVC contract by the General Inspectorate of Finance and Sports.

However, he assures that he does not thunder just for the gallery: "The pooling of federations to better market its TV rights and sell rugby, I am 200% for".

What's the problem, then?

“We received an incomplete 200-page document, to be read in not even a week, with complicated tax legal arrangements that require the FFR to take out insurance.

We would like to know why.

And then we are talking about a 50-year lease, that's not nothing ”.

The opposition is worried about "the pressure on the game"

But more than the "infinite financialization of rugby" that he intends to denounce, the president of the Ile de France League has chosen the sporting angle of attack: "I am worried about the pressure exerted on the game. In the documents, it is specified that CVC has the right to veto the membership of a federation to the 6 Nations.

This means that if Japan or Georgia want to return tomorrow, an investment fund will decide.

When you hold the purse strings, you are in a position to organize the big sporting evening you want ”.

Annoyed response from the FFR: “There is no need to worry about this.

CVC is sort of the virtual seventh nation in the tournament, and only represents a seventh of votes.

It is written in black and white in the contract that they do not affect the athlete ”.

Regarding the VI Nations itself, this is undoubtedly true.

But the arrival in shambles of investment funds in rugby - the All Blacks also have just ceded 15% of their "brand" to a CVC-type company - does it not foreshadow a profound change in the very structure of competitions?

“Of course they will influence the sporting part and the calendar, exclaims a good connoisseur of the file.

They are there to promote their product and generate more money ”.

We explain: CVC also holds significant shares in the English championship and the Pro 14 (former Celtic League), in addition to now managing the marketing of all the matches of the XV of France or England (autumn tests and tours included).

Nothing prevents him from placing his balls to propose a different calendar, and to bring out at random, this famous world championship of the clubs ardently desired by Bernard Laporte and others.

Towards an overhaul of the calendar?

Moreover, if the defender of the interests of the top 14, Paul Goze officially abstained during the vote in the board of directors "pending more precise information", no one is hiding internally: fear, it is to see the championship of France emptied of its substance in a calendar remodeled in CVC sauce.

An outcome for all that inevitable, and even desirable?

“The leaders of rugby, in France and at World Rugby, have shown themselves incapable of reinventing their model, blows a French actor.

It's always the same wars for match-sheet stories, the same inequalities between nations.

There is no one who thinks about the strategy, and behind it we are happy to bring in cash to be able to survive.

At least, with the money from a fund, we can think about putting things in place.

The league itself thought about it "

CVC indeed tried a discreet approach with the LNR, immediately rejected, to favor the launch of a call for tenders for TV rights which caused a lot of talk.

The timing, two months from the election of a new president to the LNR and three years from the expiration of the current contract, as well as the announcement of the price - 105 million euros, tailor-made for Canal - angered some club presidents struggling financially.

The League did not want CVC

While it is rumored in the middle that one or two very big clubs of the top 14 will no longer have any cash in April, despite the helpers and various EMPs, some have not understood why the League is linked until 2027 with its historic broadcaster at constant price, without the possibility of rethinking sources of short-term income.

Warning from an observer: “The clubs will not even be able to take advantage of the 2023 momentum with the World Cup in France.

And given their economic situation, the risk in the end is not CVC, it is more Elliot and company ”.

The famous vulture funds, those who rush at the patient when he is already in the cemetery.

Fortunately, the XV of France has never seemed so healthy.

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  • 6 Nations

  • Bernard Laporte

  • Sport

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  • XV of France