It’s the biggest deal seen in New Zealand Rugby history and, for many, a vital game changer, but for others, the transformation of our game into an even bigger commercial enterprise will be a fraught step into the unknown.
Rugby's Silver Lake deal will be voted on Thursday with the likelihood the deal will go through.
This deal, if it goes through, won't be rugby's silver bullet; the sport has a tonne of issues to wade through, but if the money and resource trickles down to clubs it will help.
This whole process has been long and drawn out - two years in fact - with some heated bickering along the way but on Thursday the 26 provincial unions will vote whether to accept the $300 million offer from the American private equity company.
Over the past few months, a number of provinces - including Auckland - have baulked at changes to the original deal, believing they weren't getting a big enough piece of the pie compared to professional players.
Under the $300 million deal, Silver Lake will invest $200m into the game with another $100m set to come from co-investment with New Zealand-based institutions.
1News understands the top-tier provinces will now receive more than the $1 million initially promised – a necessary change following a shift in goal posts from Silver Lake.
Previously, a 75% majority would have been needed in Thursday’s vote, but 1News understands at Silver Lake's request 100% agreement will now be needed.
Top-level professional players still fare well in the deal as well, receiving 36.5% of all revenue coming into the game as part of their collective bargaining agreement.
Once all investment has been made, Silver Lake will own up to 8.58% of the commercial entity that will house all NZR's revenue-generating assets.
For some, unanswered questions remain such as why can't NZR do its own futureproof dealings, and what is Silver Lake going to do specifically to bring in more revenue?
It may take some time to get those answers but there's confidence among the backers the deal will get done.
Then again, as we've seen with these negotiations and rugby in the past, plenty can change between now and when the general meeting starts at midday on Thursday.
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