Springbok Rugby rights owners to vote on stake sale to Ackerley

‘This is a watershed moment for rugby in South Africa as we attempt to ‘globalise’ the Springbok brand in the way that our peers in New Zealand have,’ Rian Oberholzer said.

SA Rugby, which oversees the reigning world champion Springboks team, said its member unions will on October 17 vote on the sale of a 20% stake in a newly created commercial rights company to Ackerley Sports Group.

The vote, which had initially been scheduled for May 30, is an attempt by the organisation to capitalise on the success of the national team, the Springboks. The team won the last two Rugby World Cups and last week clinched the Southern Hemisphere’s Rugby Championship.

Despite the team’s on-field success, it’s attracted less commercial income than rivals including its perennial nemesis, New Zealand’s All Blacks.

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“This is a watershed moment for rugby in South Africa as we attempt to ‘globalise’ the Springbok brand in the way that our peers in New Zealand have,” Rian Oberholzer, the chief executive officer of SA Rugby, said in a statement on Friday. “Our performances on the field have kept us near, or at the front of the pack for several years, but we have been lagging off the field.”

Oberholzer has previously said the planned private equity deal values the commercial rights at $375 million.

The prospective deal is part of a growing trend among national federations of the world’s most successful rugby teams to raise funds from private equity companies. Money managers are increasingly turning to sports leagues and federations rather than teams to diversify their investment risk.

Ackerley was selected over the Northern Hemisphere’s Six Nations Championship investor CVC Capital Partners.

Seattle-based Ackerley, formed last year by brothers Christopher and Ted Ackerley of Ackerley Partners LLC, invests in the sports sector with a focus on leagues, teams, venues, media, technology and development.

The Ackerley family has owned stakes in several sports franchises including Seattle SuperSonics and Seattle Storm in basketball, the Seattle Seadogs in soccer and the Seattle Kraken hockey team. Last year a private holding company for the family bought a minority stake in England’s Leeds United Football Club.

The Springboks have won the World Cup a record four times, gaining global recognition as the team, once an emblem of apartheid, has been held up as an example of successful racial transformation.

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