English rugby club Exeter Chiefs is now American-owned after being bought by a U.S. investment company whose expanding portfolio already includes Premier League team Bournemouth.
Black Knight Rugby, a new subsidiary of Cannae Holdings, has completed the 100% purchase of the Chiefs, Exeter announced Tuesday.
Exeter was European rugby champion in 2020 and English champion in 2017 and ‘20.
As well as Bournemouth, Cannae Holdings — fronted by American businessman Bill Foley — also owns other soccer teams Lorient (France), Moreirense FC (Portugal) and Auckland FC (New Zealand), along with the Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL.
Bournemouth finished in sixth place in the Premier League last season and qualified for European competition for the first time.
“We have a proven track record of building successful sports and entertainment brands, like Black Knight Football’s network of clubs, and we intend to bring that same approach to Exeter,” Foley said.
Exeter’s members voted by a majority in May to permit the sale of the club. A few days earlier, Cornish Pirates, which plays in English rugby’s second tier, announced a deal with Pittsburgh-based firm Stonewood Capital Management.
They are the first known U.S. investments in English pro rugby.
There is already huge U.S. investment in English soccer, with Manchester United, Chelsea and the last two winners of the Premier League — Arsenal and Liverpool — among the heavyweight teams with American owners. Wrexham is also co-owned by Hollywood celebrities Rob Mac and Canadian-born Ryan Reynolds.
Big-business investors from the United States have also bought stakes in England’s newest cricket competition, The Hundred, over the past year.
English rugby might be seen as a more attractive proposition now after it was announced in February that automatic promotion and relegation between the top two tiers would be scrapped and replaced by a criteria-based expansion and demotion model.
English rugby leaders said the previous system “was not delivering financial sustainability (and) discouraging long-term investment.”
Exeter lost to Northampton Saints in the playoff final of the Prem — the newly named top league — this month.
