Four New Zealand’s five Super 15 rugby union franchises have been put up for partial sale with no restriction on where the private stakeholders come from, though the teams may not move abroad.
The “For Sale” signs appeared in newspapers on Saturday, and the move could see, for example, the most successful Super team, the Canterbury Crusaders, being South African owned and moved to the province of arch-rivals Auckland.
Only the Otago Highlanders, who underperformed in recent years until showing signs of a revival under new coach Jamie Joseph last season, are excluded from the sale.
New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) chief executive Steve Tew said selling licences to operate the four franchises would provide a much-needed capital injection.
While the NZRU would continue to own the brands and be responsible for contracting players and coaches, the private operators will own the right to manage, select and promote the teams.
“We are hoping this invitation will generate interest from a broad range of both rugby and non-rugby individuals, organisations and consortiums,” Tew said.
“We’re quite happy to go beyond the borders of New Zealand. We’ll make it very clear, though, these teams will … continue to play in our competition in New Zealand.”
The Highlanders were excluded from the process as the NZRU was already “exploring other alternatives which are commercially sensitive” for the southern franchise, he said.
A decision on who will be granted the licences will be made around the middle of next year with the new arrangements taking effect ahead of the 2013 season.
The newspaper advertisement said the sale “represents an exciting new phase in the development” of New Zealand’s Super franchises. – Sapa-AFP