Since investing in the Sharks at the start of 2021, majority shareholder Marco Masotti has had much to ponder.
The rugby landscape in SA is layered, complex and at times treacherous, but matters beyond the Durban franchise’s control have also given the New York-based lawyer causefor pause.
“Since I’ve invested there have been a fair number of issues in Durban. There was the rioting, the floods, there’s load-shedding. The franchises got through it like South Africans always do,” Masotti said in a wide-ranging interview.
SA, and KZN in particular, is far from a safe haven for prospective investors. Some may argue Masotti and his MVM Holdings chose the worst time to invest in the country, but that argument is counterbalanced by diversifying risk through the Sharks competing in Europe.
Still, SA isn’t for the faint-hearted. “It is something I am concerned about. At the same time, we are a business in SA and in Europe. The thing that worries me more on the ground is keeping our people positive and hopeful to address the problems.”
Though MVM were initially keen to invest in the Stormers, Masotti is a long-time devotee of rugby on the east coast.
“I am more excited than I’ve ever been. I have watched South African rugby for years. When the Sharks won in Edinburgh I was so emotional I went into the locker room. Coach Neil [Powell] allowed me to address the team. I told them it is one of the greatest Sharks’ victories. I felt the way I felt when Tony Watson scored that try against the Blue Bulls [in the 1990 Currie Cup final].
“Coach Neil then reminded me, no-one in the changing room remembers that try.”
Masotti has big plans for the Sharks. He wants to put them on the global stage, to develop talent and attract big names to Durban. His vision isn’t necessarily shared by SA Rugby, who are less hawkish about top talent earning a living abroad.
The latest big name departure is Bok captain Siya Kolisi, who is off to Racing Metro at the end of the season.
“They are just going to go somewhere else, and we need to keep them here. I know there are barriers to this given what South Africans experience, but we can do it. Eben Etzebeth wants to play in SA,” said Masotti, who does not want the Sharks to become a launchpad from where players depart.
“I don't want to be like Boca Juniors or River Plate or some of the Brazilians football clubs who stutter along without resources and they give all of their top players to Europe. I’d love to have an Italian player, an Argentine player to come along and be part of the Sharks’ history. It just helps with the richness. We want a business that is profitable and a standard bearer of excellence located in SA.”
Though Covid-19 helped set a low ceiling when his company bought into the Sharks, Masotti now has distinct goals for the team.
He has the Champions (Heineken) Cup in his crosshairs.
While that will help put the Sharks’ brand up in lights, Masotti argues rugby in the wider context needs a greater global presence. “It will give the players greater exposure and bring European sponsors. Through collaborations with other sporting codes and clubs we’ll try to get some kind of holding company structure so we can create economies of scale.
“Doing those collaborations means your sponsorships and dollars go further. A Sharks player may want to spend a bit of time in the US, or Europe, but you can do that within the Sharks family. I have a small interest in Saracens, and ultimately the Sharks have to come to the US as the game grows in the lead up to the 2031 World Cup.”
He has no doubt the game will take off in the US.
“Totally! There is something like 2,500 clubs in this country. It is such a massive country, so even if you are sport No. 7 you’re still big. I see when kids are introduced to rugby how much they like it.”
I want to collaborate with an NFL team. It would be so much easier on the east coast of the US.
— Masotti
In fact, he is keen for the Sharks to set a footprint on US soil.
“I want to collaborate with an NFL team. I’m based in New York, and it would be so much easier on the east coast of the US. We represent the NFL. I know they want to go more global. They’ve given each NFL team a part of the world. So for example, the Philadelphia Eagles have Ghana.”
The Sharks will be looking for turn-key relationships that will allow them to grow their game internationally.
“I’d go to the northeast and though my NFL team is the Green Bay Packers I’d look at a team like the New York Giants.
“New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Miami, that’s where I’d be looking.
“I can see how the young players enjoy being here. I had Lukhanyo Am here [two weeks ago]. That just grows people. I want it to be part of the Sharks brand.
“We’re only at the beginning of an experiment.”
Masotti knows though he can’t forge ahead in isolation, Rugby as a whole needs to move with the times.
“The sport is still locked in its amateur traditions and conservatism. What we need is something similar to what happened to US basketball teams in the 1950s. There needs to be a turnover of ownership, which is kind of happening. Once there are more dynamic business people involved you can get everyone to the table and we can get a global season right.
“We are playing too much rugby, it’s too fractured. I don’t want to say it needs to be Super Leagued, but we may need something like that. We need the best to play the best, and we need to grow the club game.
“We need to develop and grow the franchises because that is what is going to serve Springbok rugby in the long term.”
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