All Blacks sale could prove a private equity intrusion too far for lovers of sport | Jonathan Liew
Selling a stake of New Zealand Rugby to a US firm is of a piece with the attempted European Super League coup
Towards the end of last year, the consultancy firm Deloitte issued a pamphlet to investors outlining the uncertain financial landscape created by Covid-19. “An increasing number of companies and economic sectors are under severe pressure,” it noted. “Millions of jobs have been lost and thousands of businesses are at risk. This is a classic scenario where private equity can play a role.”
Right on cue: in a time of fear, a hero will come. Often several heroes, bearing wads of cash and a stern list of conditions. And so, here we are: seven words that perhaps encapsulate the dystopian weirdness of 2021. The All Blacks are up for sale. Yes, those All Blacks: not just one of the most successful and famous teams in the world, but a culture and tradition, a heritage and a lineage. A name that – for all its vaguely irritating self-mythologising – resounds well beyond the borders of New Zealand, well beyond the shores of rugby union.
