Rugby went professional 24 years ago and now in 2019, it appears to be on the brink of a significant step up in terms of just how commercial it can become.

A story in yesterday’s Times of London suggests that discussions have begun around the purchase of a minority stake in the Guinness Six Nations by venture capitalists CVC.

If those talks do lead to an investment it will certainly be the money men’s second big play in the sport and it may well be the third. Talks are already believed to be further along with PRO14 Rugby around a similar deal to that signed last year with English Premiership Rugby.

This is no misty-eyed approach based on emotion. It is a hard cash bet on Rugby’s international TV rights being worth more than they are currently being sold for.

The history of CVC hints at the fact that they are good judges when that might be the case.

Most famously, and most recently they turned a major profit, though the actual size of that varies from a low of 350% of what they invested ten years before, to a high of 500%, depending on which set of accounting explanations and debt instruments you look at; through the sale of the business.

Much of the profit came through the decade long sale of what was a majority stake down to a 35% which was sold in 2016 to Virgin Media parent company Liberty Global.

The Scottish Chairman of CVC is reported to have been somewhat more attached to the sport and its history than many thought to be the case originally, though there is little suggestion that he is a rugby fan any more than the average business leader.

What he is a fan of is the value of media rights in sport and that is what is at the heart of the interest in Rugby.

In a sport where there are really only ten major powers playing the game at the highest level, having a stake in six of them through national and club teams and tournaments might seem like overkill.

But think of the upside were Spain and Germany or especially the USA and China get excited.

The 2019 World Cup is in Japan and it is feasible to believe that after France in 2023 that the next tournament will go to North America.

Media rights are fragmenting but the biggest likely trend over the coming years is that tournaments and teams will in some way skate around the intermediary of a broadcaster and tilt towards using their skills but selling their product direct to the consumer.

Those two elements alone make a play for Rugby a very real prospect.

The interesting thing to watch over the coming months will be to see whether the interest CVC is showing catches the eye of other potential buyers, pushing the price higher and bringing even greater financial benefit to the IRFU and the provinces.

Another factor may be a long standing interest in the gambling world which has included major stakeholdings in Sky betting and Gaming, William Hill and German betting company Tipco.

Those who hold rugby to be at a higher moral level than other sports may find that uncomfortable though the deregulation of betting, also in the US is a greater opportunity than the threat posed in more established markets by unease over the growth of problem gambling.

There are many different lines being cast upon the water

Watching who eventually reels them in promises to be as interesting a game to watch unfold as the remaining Six Nations matches on the field of play.