Scottish Rugby says £365m Six Nations deal with CVC is an 'important step'
- Published
Scotland have beaten England but lost to Wales in this season's Six Nations
Scottish Rugby has welcomed a Six Nations deal with private equity giant CVC that could benefit the governing body by £44.5m over five years.
CVC has further strengthened its hand in rugby union in the £365m deal for a 14% share in the tournament.
It comes after CVC bought a stake in the Pro14 and England's Premiership.
Scottish Rugby said in statement that: "Today's announcement marks an important step in the evolution of the Six Nations as a tournament."
The money will be split on a sliding scale between the unions, with England receiving £95m, Wales £50 and Ireland £48m ahead of Scotland's share.
"The initial amount for Scotland will be around £7.4m (before costs) at completion, out of a total allocation for Scotland of up to £44.5m (before costs) if Six Nations meets various future financial performance conditions," the SRU explained.
"Scotland will also benefit from an increased commercial focus on the competition as a result of the partnership with CVC. Scottish Rugby's board and council will take their time to determine how best to utilise this future income, having both backed the proposal to bring CVC on board."
The deal incorporates the Women's and under-20s tournaments, plus the autumn international series, with the six unions recently centralising their ownership and operational activities.
The Six Nations has moved to allay fears it had "sold out" to CVC and will be relinquishing undue control of the game's oldest championship as a result.
"Bringing in a significant external partner is the result of many years of hard work in developing the tournament and recognition of its value and future," the SRU adds.
"It provides a great opportunity to take the tournament forward and build on its success to date. The arrival of CVC is a timely and strong expression of confidence in rugby and one which will directly benefit the wider game in Scotland in years to come."
CVC's record doesn't bode well for free-to-air TV - analysis
Chris Jones, BBC rugby union correspondent
This is a negotiation that's been two years in the making and it is staggered depending on the commercial clout of the various unions.
The big question is how much CVC can grow the game, how much they can drive more revenues into the sport, into the Six Nations and into the autumn internationals, what form that will take and also how much control these unions are going to have to give up.
That's an important point they've been keen to stress in the press release is that sole responsibility on sporting matters will stay with the six unions and they are only going to give up a small percentage of the commercial interests.
The money is a godsend at a time like this, when the RFU in England, for example, have made it clear they rely on Twickenham and match-day revenues for 85% of their revenue and I'm sure that's mirrored through the unions.
The track record of CVC doesn't bode well for continued coverage on free-to-air television. If you look at Formula One, their business model was to take it to pay TV.
However, they probably won't be able to do the same in rugby and the Six Nations say CVC just don't have that commercial control. They are just, in effect, the seventh nation and, if it does go to pay TV, that will be more down to the unions than CVC.