New owners share "ambition" for Exeter Chiefs

With Exeter Rugby Group Ltd now under new ownership, the CEO of Cannae Holdings Inc., Ryan Caswell, will become a more regular feature at Sandy Park.

Caswell and his team are currently in daily contact with the club’s long-term CEO, Tony Rowe, and Exeter’s management team. Last week, Caswell arrived for a visit with Cannae’s chief financial officer Brett Correia.

Caswell was keen to share his excitement following the purchase of the club two weeks ago and to explain why Cannae has chosen to invest in Exeter and rugby. Cannae already owns football clubs in France, Portugal and AFC Bournemouth in England.

Caswell said: “Rugby has a very passionate fan base with a long, successful history and Exeter provides Cannae an opportunity to invest in both an attractive club and sport. We believe that we can leverage many of the learnings that we have experienced at Bournemouth to grow both Exeter’s brand and performance as well as to help grow the sport.”

Last season saw Chiefs rise through the ranks to make the Gallagher PREM Final against Northampton Saints and Chiefs Women lose a painfully close semi-final to the eventual PWR champions, Saracens.

Caswell continued, “We looked at Exeter’s history, brand, community, and infrastructure, and proven history of success. Our question was how we could use all of that and push the club to the next level. Clearly, the men had a great result making it to the final and we hope that resets the expectations going forward.”

Caswell saw the Exeter Chiefs in action against Northampton Saints at Sandy Park a couple of months before the deal was signed. He also took the opportunity to take in the entire infrastructure of the club.

“What I’ve taken away from the match and my visits was the community, the support, the excitement and the enthusiasm. I wanted to see the infrastructure and what the experience was like. I took away that it's a strong brand, with a great community and a great team on and off the pitch. It checks all the boxes. I also saw a club that is truly embedded within the community. We went to the university and saw the academy and how it fits within the community.”

Since Cannae took over AFC Bournemouth, the club has climbed to its highest ever finish in the Premier League. For Exeter fans, they will be hoping the investment will have the same effect in the competitions the club’s sides compete in.

Caswell continued: “We have ambition. We have a track record of success with Bournemouth and Bill Foley’s Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL. We also have views of what creates success while very much appreciating that this is a different sport with a different community and a different fan base. We want to be very respectful of that while at the same time trying to find ways where we can add value and achieve the ambition of the club.

“We’ve looked at many different sports but rugby is a game with an incredible history, and it is very entertaining. We think there is upside in the US and globally. There's a great fan base around rugby which is exciting to us.”

Cannae is not just focusing on the men’s team. At AFC Bournemouth they brought in a community women’s team into the club fold, seeing them gain back-to-back promotions into the Women's National League Southern Premier Division – the third tier of the women’s football league structure. Caswell and team will be applying the same attention to the Chiefs Women’s team.

Caswell added|: “Our ambition is to continue to move the team up. We think women's sports are a huge opportunity. I think women's rugby is a significant opportunity. There are many great players here and we 100% want to invest in the women's game in addition to the men's game. I think it's a really exciting time for women’s rugby.”

While the senior teams are often the main focus of supporters who want to see their sides win on the pitch, Cannae recognises the importance of investing in the future too.

“We think the academy is really important given the number of academy players that make their way to the first team. We will be trying to invest in that, to create pathways for academy players who have been in the community to make their way up to the first team. That embeds these players to the community and the fans which is an important piece of the puzzle.”

Most supporters will be more than happy seeing improvements in league positions, but Cannae has plans for the fan experience too.

Caswell concluded: “We want to give the fans a team that they can continue to be proud of while also providing an experience at the stadium that they feel is worth spending their hard-earned money on. The fans and the community are the reason for the success of the team, so we want to deliver them a product, both with the performance of the team as well the experience at Sandy Park and around the community, that they will feel good about.”