English PREM team Exeter Chiefs appears poised to be taken over by Bill Foley’s multisport investment company, Black Knight Sports and Entertainment, in a multimillion-pound deal, which could have profound consequences for the sport’s future.
Following Red Bull’s recent takeover of Newcastle and James Dyson’s investment into Bath, big money is now flooding into the sport that has traditionally only survived financially through the goodwill of rich owners. That situation is set to fundamentally change if investors like Bill Foley get involved.
Bill Foley is a serial investor in sports. His company also owns Premier League side AFC Bournemouth, which it bought for £100million, and which was the start of his sports empire. Black Knight has gone on to buy French football club Lorient, Auckland FC in New Zealand and Portuguese side Moreirense. It also owns Vegas Golden Knights from the National Hockey League, winners of the Stanley Cup in 2023.
The sports investments have been enabled by Foley’s business success, and he is estimated to have made more than $2billion through his insurance firm Fidelity National Finance. But what will this input of huge finance, linked with Hollywood glamour and Premier League football potentially do to English club rugby?
Current Exeter owner Tony Rowe has been funding the club for almost three decades, gaining promotion to the top flight, winning the Premiership and becoming European Champions – but it has come at a price. Exeter’s latest accounts showed more than £10m in post-tax losses, and Rowe’s support for the club has its limits. As he stated recently “whether you like it or not, professional sport is all about money. We need money to survive.”
English club rugby is heading into a new era following the decision to ring-fence the top flight and revamp standards on and off the pitch. With that new era comes change, but while the English rugby model is not working financially, there are still hundreds of thousands of supporters following the sport. The big question is what changes will be made to the competition to make it financially viable, and will those changes change the very essence of the sport that is loved by fans.
A small glimpse into the new era has been seen recently by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Agency signing of two high profile players, Henry Pollock and Finn Russell. Hearn has clearly seen the financial potential of the two players and has committed to exploiting that potential by making them ‘celebrities’ – which can surely only be good for the sport?
One issue of concern, however, is the profile of the two players chosen. Russell has been at the top of his game for years, the genius maverick figure who can do things on the pitch that others can’t, who is the first name on the team sheet when Scotland plays an international. He has been an international since 2014, winning 94 caps and scoring over 400 points for his country. Pollock, by contrast, is at the start of his career, with ten caps, and his first international start was two months ago. He has scored 10 points for England.
Two, undoubtedly talented players, but at very different stages and levels of their careers – but both have been selected for their potential for stardom. Nothing wrong with that perhaps, apart from one of the core elements of rugby union, which is the essence of teamwork and everyone’s role being as important as everyone else’s. While Russell and Pollock will be paraded across the chat show studios as ‘stars’, will this upset the delicate balance in the changing room?
The same ‘haves and have nots’ argument will also raise its head at club level, with many PREM sides reportedly in the market for investment, but not all will be able to attract the same caliber of investor, creating an uneven playing field which may impact the competitiveness of the league.
Perhaps more concerning is the fact that, to date, wealthy club owners have invested in rugby due to their love of the game, rather than viewing it as a business opportunity. While I do not know about Bill Foley’s historic links to the sport, like Red Bull it is hard to assume they are investing out of a sense of social responsibility. With big investment comes the expectation of large returns – returns which have not traditionally been available in rugby union, so changes will need to be made.
Fans can only speculate about what those changes may look like. Perhaps the introduction of half time shows, swapping from halves to quarters, having offensive and defensive teams, changing the dates of the season, holding matches abroad or any other ‘enhancement’ that owners and authorities deem a good idea.
And it may be just what rugby union in England needs. It is failing as a sustainable business model at the moment, and more professionalism and razzmatazz could be the solution to a golden future.
The 700 Exeter club members will vote at a special general meeting early next month on whether to accept Bill Foley’s offer – it is a decision that could have profound consequences!
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David Little is a Partner at Bishop & Sewell in our expert Sports Law and Corporate & Commercial
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The above is accurate as at 23 April 2026.
The information above may be subject to change. The content of this note should not be considered legal advice, and each matter should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
