blocked by the establishment<\/a>. Masotti believes their disruptor thinking was on the right lines. The club game, he says, remains ripe for revolution. <\/p>\n\u201cIt is going to need something,\u201d he says. \u201cI have relationships in sport [the owners of the Milwaukee Bucks and Florida Panthers are part of Masotti\u2019s Sharks consortium] and in the private equity world that I can bring to rugby. But I don\u2019t know yet what I am asking. I don\u2019t know what the product is. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf we had a big league in Europe, that would be a much better product. Maybe that is the way the Champions Cup could evolve. The game is vulnerable to a disruptor. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe capital being raised for sport around the world will eventually arrive at rugby\u2019s doorstep. You can see someone trying to Super League it, like soccer was trying to do. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf we had a streamlined international calendar and a mega league with the major clubs, an NFL of sorts, that would be a product.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll rugby\u2019s attention and focus goes into that. All the best players play in it. Teams on the east coast of the United States. That would be a product.\u201d<\/p>\n
It may be revolutionary, it may be bold, it may ultimately be the right play for rugby but it is impossible to see the French agreeing for the Top 14 to be folded into a multi-national mega league. \u201cIf there is one thing I have learned over the last four years it is how conservative rugby is,\u201d Masotti concedes. \u201cSomeone is always pushing against you when you try and move the needle a little.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Marco](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/\/a5650a21-404b-4767-babf-d6b4577066b4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Masotti, pictured with Bill Clinton, will fly into Durban from New York for the contest between the two clubs in which he has a stake<\/p>\n
Where Saracens and the Sharks have succeeded in moved the needle is with their collaboration off the field, particularly with the establishment of a joint media house. \u201cOne plus one equals three,\u201d Masotti says. Its first big result has been the edgy, youthful, urban rebrand project at Saracens entitled \u2018Beyond Rugby\u2019. <\/p>\n
The attitude is \u201canti-rugby\u201d and deliberately provocative. But public indifference is the enemy. Charlie Beall, who took over as the chief executive of Saracens in June, learnt that from working in his previous job with the NFL and WWE. Beall\u2019s recruitment coincided with Mike Leslie being appointed as chief growth officer for both clubs. Both men grew up in South Africa as Sharks fans. <\/p>\n
If Masotti\u2019s focus is on changing the structures of rugby, Leslie\u2019s influence is on how people view the sport. He drove the \u2018Beyond Rugby\u2019 campaign. With use of music and fashion, it is designed to reflect the interests and character of the players and speak to non-traditional rugby fans. Again, it has the hallmarks of R360. And it is working. Saracens have enjoyed record ticket sales and year-on-year growth of 79 per cent in social media engagement since the start of the season. <\/p>\n
\u201cBoth clubs, all the way up to the ownership, share a similar vision of what the opportunity for rugby is,\u201d Leslie says. \u201cThat\u2019s the basis of the brotherhood. We are trying to solve the same problems. Saracens have really understood what it means to win on the field but we haven\u2019t been focused about winning off the field. Sports have moved on significantly. Rugby has been slow to get the memo. Rugby has traditionally spoken to rugby. To grow the game we need to speak to the next generation of fans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saracens have leant into their reputation as the bad boys, the Prem club that others love to hate, an enmity founded in their on-field success or their salary cap management or both. \u201cIt is part of our identity,\u201d Leslie says. \u201cWe have shied away from that. We went on a charm offensive for a couple of years. But it is unbelievable how authentic it is. It\u2019s almost the character we play out on the field. That\u2019s part of the power.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rugby synergy between the two clubs has taken longer to develop than Masotti would have liked. The vision has always been that each club could offer development opportunities for young players and coaches. \u201cIt will happen,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can see a world where you are creating a pathway for coaches and players to go to another environment to learn and grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
It could be that Owen Farrell becomes one of the first beneficiaries of this rugby brotherhood. On his arrival in Durban this week, the Saracens fly half discussed his desire to become a coach once his playing days are over. \u201cI have always found the sharing of information helpful, as much for your own development as the others around you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As if to demonstrate Masotti\u2019s point that the Champions Cup is in need of a major overhaul, Farrell will be in coach mode this weekend. Saracens, having opened their campaign with a comfortable win against Clermont Auvergne, will not be close to full strength in Durban. <\/p>\n
The Sharks, who rested front-line players for their heavy defeat by Toulouse last weekend, have included the likes of Siya Kolisi, Andre Esterhuizen and Bongi Mbonambi. Winning at home is all that matters in the group stages. The Sharks also have a new head coach in JP Pietersen, the 2007 World Cup-winner.<\/p>\n
It will be convivial in the stands between the club owners. Like the Livingstones, they are all pulling in the same direction, chasing this opportunity. But for 80 minutes on the field at Kings Park, sibling rivalry will replace brotherly love.<\/p>\n
Sharks v Saracens<\/p>\n
Champions Cup
Saturday, 3.15pm
TV Premier Sports 1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Livingstone and James Livingstone were brothers whose sibling rivalry was pushed to extremes when they competed against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-313514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Saracens](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/\/ae8022e3-8658-4195-9781-37455df69db2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Saracens](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/\/773d757e-12b1-4fbe-8559-6967f0a4ab72.jpg\")
<\/p>\n