These are corks that won't go back in the bottles, which is an apt way to describe themove towards private equity investment.
NZR is rewarding itself a massive short-term cash boost at the same time as it is risking the long-term fabric of the sport. At this point it seems like a gamble loaded in favour of the reward, but this might be the decision that future generations pinpoint as the moment New Zealanders lost "their game".
The watershed nature of the deal should not be underestimated, and that goes both ways.
Silver Lake has a history of investing in sports clubs, including Manchester City and its network of global football clubs, and the New York Knicks. Unlike New Zealand Rugby, those clubs have a very narrow definition of success.
Manchester City's job, for example, is to win titles. By winning titles they increase their attraction to commercial partners.
The definition of success for New Zealand Rugby is very different. While a winning All Black side is the spearhead of operations, NZR has an obligation to act in the best interests of its key stakeholders, the most important being its 26 unions. Those 26 unions, in turn, are charged with running not just representative teams, but fostering the growth of community rugby. It is an enormous brief, albeit in a comparatively tiny market.
Silver Lake's return on investment will likely come through monetising the All Blacks brand. Photo / Photosport
Manchester City has no obligation to grow community football in Greater Manchester, even if it is a useful PR exercise to pretend it does so.
At some point down the track, when belt-tightening is required, are Silver Lake's two board representatives really going to be that interested in the fate of North Otago club rugby?
There is an argument, and it is a persuasive one, that the famed bottom-up fabric of New Zealand rugby, small 'r', has been frayed and torn anyway, in particular by the advent of a cross-border Super Rugby competition that has emasculated the national provincial championship and the levels below.
You could even argue that Silver Lake's fund gives community rugby the best opportunity it has had to thrive since the advent of professionalism, though the proof will be in the pudding.
There will undoubtedly be a backlash of sorts about selling of the family jewels. After the Herald originally broke the story in May, a Wellington financier inquired, off-the-record, as to why NZR wasn't instead offering a stake to New Zealand citizens and listing on the NZX.
(At the very least, the prospect of NZR hierarchy justifying its decision making to a room full of shareholders would provide massive comedic value.)
Instead, Silver Lake's return on investment will come through monetising the All Blacks to the nth degree.
NZR has some experience of this with its sponsorship deal with AIG, shoehorning tests into the calendar in places like Tokyo and Chicago despite increasing alarm bells over player welfare due to an endless treadmill of rugby.
NZ Rugby previously partnered with AIG. Photo / Photosport
The easiest way to maximise investment in the current climate is via broadcast/streaming deals, so where this will leave Sky at the end of its current five-year deal in 2025 remains to be seen.
The equity stake NZR took in Sky of around $20m was designed to future-proof the marriage though this was rendered moot when NZR's shares were almost immediately heavily diluted. That $20m investment is now worth less than $4m.
With Silver Lake involved in negotiations it will be fascinating to see whether Sky is able to match the likes of Amazon Prime or other streaming giants.
