Six Nations Rugby is selling a 1/7th stake of its tournament to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners in a deal worth up to $509 million, to be paid over five years.

Europe’s biggest rugby tournament is currently underway and includes the rugby unions of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales. Each nation’s rugby union will also hold a 1/7th stake in the new deal with CVC.

CVC isn’t new to investing in sports, let alone rugby. Last year, the firm acquired a 28% interest in the PRO14 Rugby league for $141 million. In 2019, it acquired a minority stake in England’s Premier Rugby Ltd.

The announcement of CVC’s investment comes with questions about if the games will be moved from terrestrial TV to a subscription-based service like Sky or Amazon. Six Nations CEO Ben Morel says proper negotiations have yet to take place.

“I can reassure people that we are going to do what is right for the game in the long term, but I can’t prejudge based on things I don’t know,” Morel told The Guardian. “We are in the process of collecting proposals in the next couple of weeks.”

Last month, British free-to-air network ITV drew 8.7 million viewers for Scotland’s win against England in the tournament’s opening round — a slight increase over the 8.6 million who watched the Six Nations teams play on the BBC in 2020.

Rush Street Interactive’s revenue rocketed to $278.5 million in 2020, a 337% increase, on the strength of its online casino and growing sports betting business.

The online wing of Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming saw Q4 revenue reach $100 million, but costs also jumped, leading to a net loss of $48.8 million on the quarter. Still, the company has to be pleased with its trajectory.

• In Q4 2020, RSI more than doubled its monthly average users from Q4 2019, and grew its revenue per user 73% year-over-year to $328.
• The quarter was RSI’s first after going public via a SPAC merger with dMY Technology Group at a $1.8 billion valuation.
• RSI expects revenue to climb another 58% to around $440 million in 2021.

RSI estimates that the nine states where it was active in Q4 have a combined betting market size of $9.5 billion. It believes the U.S. would have a $35 billion market if gambling was legalized throughout the country.

The gambling hub is moving into new territory quickly: RSI recently secured deals to move into Ohio, Maryland, and Missouri. It opened sportsbooks in Virginia and Michigan in January.

However, the company is still generating five times more revenue from its online casino customers than its sports betting ones, who are younger and lean heavily male.

EA Sports opened an investigation into allegations that at least one employee has been selling FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) cards through a backchannel. 

The accusations detail unauthorized sales of the rare cards for as much as $2,500. Screenshots of a Twitter message exchange appear to show negotiations around one of these transactions with implications that they are happening regularly.

People generally must purchase packs with a random assortment of player cards in the hopes of scoring a high-value one, but the alleged scheme allowed direct purchase of prized cards.

“A thorough investigation is underway, and if we identify improper conduct, we will take swift action,” said EA Sports FIFA in a statement. “This type of behavior is unacceptable, and we in no way condone what is alleged to have happened here.” 

Ultimate Team allows gamers to build and play with their own virtual team by earning, trading, or purchasing individual player cards or packs using the game’s token system.

In FY2020, EA reported net revenue of $1.49 billion from its Ultimate Team mode, which is available across several EA titles including “Madden.” VP of Equity Research at Bank of America Ryan Gee estimates FIFA’s version contributed about $900 million to that number.