While the immediate benefit of the partnership is a massive cash injection into a competition that will be, like every major professional sports league, affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the ripple effect of the deal is likely to be felt around the rugby world.
Simon Porter, chief executive of Halo Sports, New Zealand's largest player agency, said he didn't believe the cash would spark a northern migration of players but it did reinforce a status quo that was worrying for the game here.
"What this does is reinforce the shift in the sport's powerbase away from the Sanzaar unions to the Six Nations," Porter said. "When we're talking about discussions around a club world cup and the global calendar, the decision-making is far more likely to be in the best interests of the Six Nations unions."
Porter said the previous cash injection into the Premiership didn't result in a player exodus and he doesn't expect this one will either.
"The money is meant to go to the national unions, not the Pro14 clubs, so i expect it will enable them to weather the Covid storm a bit better.
"What it does indicate is that CVC, who don't like to waste money, see the sport in Europe as in pretty good shape. They see it as a growth product and you contrast that with here and all you seem to read or hear is how the game is broken. It's all doom and gloom."
South Africa will likely increase their involvement in the competition from two teams – the Cheetahs and Kings – which could expedite their long-talked-about exit from Super Rugby, although they have expressed a desire to retain a presence in the south also.
Of greater importance to the hoped-for renovation of rugby's chaotic global calendar, it is believed CVC will seek alignment between its investments – its $600m deal to buy into the Six Nations is also back on track according to a report in London's Financial Times – to play a leading role in creating a global club world cup.
That move should prompt New Zealand Rugby to press fast forward on Aratipu, the review into the future of Super Rugby. It is crucial that NZR has a workable, saleable product to take to market with some urgency.
At the moment, the contrast is uncomfortable for those charged with keeping the best players in the game in New Zealand: private money is being poured into Europe's big tournaments; nobody yet knows with any certainty what Super Rugby will look like in 2021.
This month, the Herald revealed that the national body had been wooing global equity partners, including multi-billion-dollar United States firm Silver Lake, a tech specialist that has also successfully invested in mixed martial arts phenomenon the UFC, the Madison Square Garden Company (which owns the New York Knicks and New York Rangers) and Manchester City's parent company.
"You would set up a subsidiary company of NZ Rugby and get investment into that company in some form of partnership," a senior NZ Rugby source said. "You put commercial assets into that company — whether that's in combination with Sanzaar partners and something like Super Rugby in its reincarnated form, or the Rugby Championship."
The source also noted NZR was "miles away" from signing a deal, but the Pro14 deal and continued uncertainty over Sanzaar's future should rid the national body of any complacency.
CVC's massive investment in Northern Hemisphere rugby (and to an extent South Africa) points to their investment belief that rugby's reach and commercial opportunities will continue to rise in the wake of the pandemic.
NZR will now be acutely aware they cannot afford to be left behind.
