An investor in Baller League and the Professional Fighter League must help finance the launch of R360, a new rugby format, which aims to attract some of the main professional players in the world.
Sky News has learned that 885 capital, an investment company founded by Sudeep Ramnani and Jai Mahtani, is part of a consortium which has agreed to inject funding in R360 – which will encompass the professional competitions of men and women.
Among the other first donors were Martin Gilbert, the Grandee of the City who chairs Revolt, and Albachiara, a consulting and investment company specializing in the sectors, including sport.
The size of the capital injection in R360 to date is not clear, although the initiates of rugby think that it will have to increase tens of millions of pounds to finance its first years, due to the cost of recruitment and marketing of the players.
The R360 has been nicknamed a concept of division by criticism because it wants to try main players such as End Smith in England and Henry Slade of their current clubs in a new franchise league, made up of 12 teams based in major cities of the world.
The new format was developed by Mike Tindall, who was part of the winning team of the 2003 World Cup in England.
Mr. Tindall would have informed the players this week that the funding had been obtained but without disclosing the names of the donors of R360.
English players participating in the breakaway tournament could be prevented by Rugby Football Union to play for the national team, according to reports.
The news of R360 donors comes just a few days after the England women’s team won the World Cup in Twickenham after beating Canada 35-13.
The board of directors of R360 would have reversed the decision to sell individual team franchises despite having received interest from substantial investors.
According to the initiates, the preference for a central property model would allow R360 to have greater control over the team and the quality of the “product” during the first years of the competition.
It appeared on Wednesday that the financing of the new company had been obtained until 2028, when it should become profitable.
The funding of R360 was organized by Oakvale Capital, an advisor specializing in finance of sports and playing business.
An R360 spokesperson said: “We are unable to comment on investment partners in order to respect confidentiality.
“However, what we can say is that we are really delighted to launch our world league next year, which was designed to present the best rugby players in the world, capture the imagination of fans and develop our sport in the years to come.”
885 capital did not respond to a request for comments.