The Star: March 04, 2021

The Star Thursday March 4 2021
4
NEWS
• From page 1
The Hurricanes, Chiefs, Highlanders
and Blues have all had
private investors as part of their
business model, while the Crusaders
are run by six provincial
unions, led by Canterbury and
Tasman.
While those unions still form
the shareholding bedrock,
Crusaders chief executive Colin
Mansbridge is confident of securing
a significant cash injection to
protect the club’s
future through
investment and
innovation.
“Most Super
clubs have
made virtually
no money for
a decade. It’s
been a marginal
financial model
and there’s been quite a bit of
tension around where certain
commercial rights reside,” Mansbridge
said.
“Certain commercial rights
are now ours for perpetuity and
in the event that new rights are
invented they default to us. In the
past if there was a new right it
defaulted New Zealand Rugby.”
Licencing agreements between
NZR and the Super Rugby club
also ran for the duration of the
competition’s broadcasting agreement,
a possible impediment to
investors making a longer-term
commitment.
“We were almost limited to
what we could do so this is a
fundamental break from almost
a survival mentality where every
broadcast deal you sort of limp
your way through to the end,”
Mansbridge said.
“We now have the potential
for shareholders to invest in
perpetuity and we’ve got the right
to innovate and create new (commercial)
rights.”
Mansbridge would not specify
how much monetary investment
was targeted, but with NZR footing
the bill for the player salaries
and two coaches, financial
resources are stretched covering
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
‘It’s about adding value to both organisations’
Colin
Mansbridge
SUPER DEVELOPMENT: The Crusaders can fast-track
plans to secure private investors at home and abroad to
strengthen their financial position after signing a new
licensing agreement with New Zealand Rugby.
the likes of high performance
staff, the academy programme
and hosting games.
Once new investors stump up –
the first band should be revealed
around August – Mansbridge
said boosting the membership
programme was among the
priorities.
“Infrastructure around the way
we deal with our fans is probably
not where it should be,” he said.
“But when you’ve got very
little capital in your business
and you’re basically looking to
survive, you don’t invest in those
things.”
Mansbridge added equity
partners armed with deep pockets
were not the only investors
sought.
“It’s not about the price and the
cash, it’s about adding value to
both organisations,” he said.
“Some potential investors
have said ‘I bring sports science
capability that you guys don’t
have’.
“We had potential partners say
look: ‘We’d like to understand
why you’re successful, we want
to come in and study you and
take that back to our sport or our
institution and at the same time
we realise we can’t just come in
and take it off you’.
“I’ve spoken to clubs and codes
in the northern hemisphere
about partnering and it’s feasible
to see a top sports club or
institution actually turn around
and say: ‘We think we can learn
something from this place’. And
they’d be prepared to pay for that
right.”
Mansbridge conceded the
Crusaders were unlikely to team
up with a Saracens or a Toulon,
given the end game is to be the
most successful rugby club in the
world.
“We’re hoping we’re going to
beat them in a world club challenge,”
he said.
“I genuinely see us competing
against the top clubs in the world
at some point.”
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