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Rob Baxter on Exeter's US investors and the future of English rugby
By Neil Fissler
Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter admits that he is in the dark about discussions between their chairman and chief executive, Tony Rowe, and financiers in America about buying a stake in the club.
The Chiefs, who are owned by 700 members, have been seeking investment since they posted an after-tax loss of £10.3m last season, at the start of this year.
Rowe told The Daily Mail at the weekend that he has been speaking to a couple of investors, and one was waiting for news on the scrapping of promotion and relegation before potentially committing to the project.
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“We’re talking to a couple of investors, and one of them wanted to wait to hear what happened this week. English rugby is desperate for money, but it’s difficult to find investment because of the worry of relegation.
“Red Bull didn’t just come along and say, ‘We don’t mind if we get relegated.’ They were banking on this decision. I’m certain we’ll see more big names invest in English rugby now.
“Money dictates where sport goes, and if somebody wants to pay handsomely to change the name of Exeter, I have no doubt that might happen,” he said.
But director of rugby Baxter, who sits on the nine-member board of Exeter Rugby Group PLC, said on his weekly media call that he hasn’t spoken to Rowe about American money coming to Sandy Park.
“We haven’t yet had a bi-monthly board meeting, but I think we’ve got one in about two weeks’ time. So right here and now, I would expect anything like that to get reported at the board meeting.
“I don’t sit with Tony on a day-to-day basis talking about things like investors and finance, et cetera, et cetera. My day-to-day is trying to win games of rugby, helping to develop players, and making sure the squad are in the right place.
“I haven’t had any discussion with Tony on who or what types of investments are there at the moment and who is expressing an interest.
“So I actually hadn’t heard there had been any gossip about American investors. So that is actually news to me, as well,” said Baxter.
