Exeter Chiefs owner vows to make club the best in the world after £45m Black Knight takeover

Tony Rowe has set his sights on global dominance after Black Knight Rugby completed a £45m takeover of Exeter Chiefs, with the club’s long-serving owner pledging to make them the best club side in the world.

Black Knight Rugby, backed by Cannae Holdings vice-chairman Bill Foley and chief executive Ryan Caswell — who also own AFC Bournemouth and NHL franchise Las Vegas Black Knights — finalised the deal on Tuesday. Rowe, who has bankrolled the Chiefs for 25 years, will remain as chief executive for the next two years.

“We want to be the best club in the world,” Rowe said. “I have got no doubts that we will get back to being in the finals of the European competitions in the next two to four years. And that’s our target.”

The ambition echoes a pattern Rowe has set before. When Exeter were promoted to the Premiership, he declared they would become domestic and European champions — a claim that drew scepticism at the time. Six years ago, the Chiefs delivered on that promise by winning the Premiership and Champions Cup double in the same season.

Now, with the inaugural Rugby Club World Cup scheduled for 2028, Rowe has framed the takeover as the platform needed to compete at that level. He was candid about the financial pressures that made outside investment necessary.

“The 2024-2025 season was a disaster for us, and by roughly this time last year we were aware that we needed to look for a financial partner,” Rowe said. “We hoped that the supporters would come back and we could trade our way out of problems, but it didn’t happen.”

The club appointed agents who identified around 86 interested parties worldwide, which were eventually narrowed to 11 or 12 serious candidates. Rowe said only two or three were genuinely worth considering once sporting credentials were assessed.

“Black Knight stood out. Three or four years ago, they took over AFC Bournemouth, and they appear to have done a fantastic job there,” he said.

Rowe was also keen to stress that the sale does not represent a loss of identity for a club built from the lower reaches of English rugby into a European powerhouse. “It’s a shame really, but I haven’t sold the club out. What we have done is find a partner who is prepared to let us continue and fund us along the way.”

Exeter were Gallagher Premiership finalists last season, and Rowe believes the new ownership structure gives the club the financial foundation to return to the summit of European rugby — and, if the 2028 competition takes shape as planned, to challenge for a first world club title.