Tony Rowe aiming high under new ownership
Published on: 02/07/2026
The last time Exeter Rugby Group Ltd’s CEO Tony Rowe had a boss was when he worked for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth when he joined the Royal Marines Band at the age of 15. He will now be answerable to fellow executive board members Cannae Holdings, Inc.’s vice chairman William P Foley II and CEO Ryan Caswell.
However, hours after announcing the club’s takeover by Black Knight Rugby - a subsidiary of Cannae Holdings, Inc. - Rowe joked a psychometric test revealed he may not be the best employee!
He said: “As an employer, years ago, you should give a potential employee psychometric tests, and it would give you a profile of the person. My other directors in the company persuaded me to take one, and the result actually said: ‘Do not employ this man!’”
Rowe has led Exeter Chiefs from the front ever since he formed a board to run the club back in 1998. He oversaw its move from the County Ground to Sandy Park, their promotion into the Premiership, two league title wins and being crowned European champions in 2020. The good times were clearly enjoyable, but the financial devastation of COVID-19 was an issue even resilient Rowe could not overcome unaided.
While professional clubs folded under the enormous debt that came from continuing to pay players and staff without the income of regular gate receipts, Chiefs tightened their collective belt and players’ total wages were well below the permitted salary cap. But there was still an uphill battle to try to clear a debt of more than £20 million.
“When you lose 20 million quid, that's a lovely big hole to knock in a company. A lot of the clubs have survived because the guys behind them have put their hands in their pockets. I couldn't put my hand in my pocket anymore. It's not fair on my family, just putting more and more money into the rugby fund.
“COVID was dragging us down. We’ve been clearing £2 million a year but it takes a while to clear. They've [Black Knight Rugby] come in, they've injected a large sum of cash into the business and they're in it for the long term.
“The direction I’ve had was to get the club back in profit and get it successful on the pitch. Well, we can do that, not an issue.”Black Knight Rugby has retained the services of Rowe as the business’s CEO, enabling him to put all his years of experience into practice.
“I was fairly relaxed about it [being CEO]. I mean, I want to stay, because, having come this far in the last few years, I want to see the club recover, back on its feet properly, back in profit, and also get us to franchise. But if they'd have said we need to move on, I’d have moved on. But I'm very pleased they wanted me to stay on.”
The money from Black Knight Rugby will serve to clear any outstanding debts but to also inject fresh investment into the club’s teams and infrastructure, including on-site training and changing facilities.
“We're going to use some of the money to actually invest it back in the squad. Hopefully, next season, we’ll be able to spend up to the salary cap.
“We’ve got a massively talented squad. If we lack anything, at the moment, it's experience, and our trip to Twickenham a couple of weeks ago probably showed that. We lack a bit of strength and depth, so we're just going to get that fixed, which we think we can do for next season.
“We're very comfortable where we are. I think the boys are comfortable. The deal we've managed with Black Knight means we've got security.”
The new deal will also include support for the Exeter Chiefs Women’s team.
Rowe added: “The women's premiership is still quite young in English rugby. It’s still trying to build a bigger supporter base, so we're funding a loss. But Black Knight Rugby is committed to supporting women's rugby, which I think is great. We’re really excited as this will enable us to actually put a bit more money into the ladies’ side.”
Members of the Cannae Holdings, Inc. will visit Sandy Park in the next few weeks to “get their feet under the table”. Meanwhile, club staff are keen to share ideas with their equivalent colleagues at AFC Bournemouth, another Cannae Holdings, Inc. acquisition.
While work continues behind the scenes, supporters will be eyeing the next Gallagher PREM and PWR seasons with interest to see if the Black Knight Rugby takeover influences league positions. AFC Bournemouth finished last season’s Premier League in a record sixth place.
Rowe is predicting good things.
“I’ve got no doubt we’ll get back to being in the finals of Europe in the next two to four years. That’s our target. We want to be the best club in the world.”
Written By:
Exeter Chiefs Rugby Club
