The Welsh Rugby Union have six potential buyers for Cardiff Rugby
Potential new Cardiff Rugby Investors, Reg Clarke, left, Gareth West second left, and Niels Fuul, right, at Cardiff Arms Park(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)
Six months ago, Cardiff Rugby entered administration, prompting the Welsh Rugby Union to take ownership of the club.
Those were dark days for Welsh rugby, with uncertainty still hanging over the future of the four professional sides. The WRU is reportedly planning to cut at least one of these teams, but there is light at the end of the tunnel for Cardiff.
A consortium of six wealthy businessmen, including three Hollywood producers based in Los Angeles, has emerged with plans to buy the famous Welsh club.
They are one of six parties who have expressed an interest in buying Cardiff.
In an exclusive interview with WalesOnline earlier this week, they outlined ambitious plans — including a scripted TV series — designed to grow the club’s global appeal and boost revenue.
But who are these individuals, and how did a trio of LA producers become involved in Welsh rugby?
The background
In April, Cardiff Rugby entered administration after majority shareholders Helford Capital stopped making payments. Rhino CEO Reg Clark, a business associate of Niels Juul, was alerted to the club’s situation.
“I was aware of the situation at Cardiff via Martyn Ryan (former Cardiff director who is part of the new consortium) and one day some months ago Niels, who I am working with on an athleisure wear project, just said out of the blue that what we really need to do is buy a rugby club,” Clarke told WalesOnline.
“I told Niels I know a rugby club which might possibly be available so Niels is on his second visit to Cardiff.
“He came down with Martyn (Ryan) and I to Cardiff some months ago and it really fired him up.”
Ryan, a Cardiff director since 2013, was a key figure determined to assemble a consortium to save the club.
“Cardiff became available because it went into administration,” Ryan said.
“They spoke to me and Niels has pulled together the team behind it. I’d spoken to a number of people about becoming involved in the management. That’s how it came together.”
Juul, who has made his name as a Hollywood producer, then reached out to Gareth West and Mark Williams.
“When I got the light for it and thought it was amazing,” Juul said.
“I called this guy (Gareth West) because he’s very good at making things happen and then we had another partner in this called Mark Williams who was the creator of Ozark.
“We’ve all worked together on various projects and it’s always been a successful one.
“We come with different skillsets and they were immediately on board with and said okay why not? Let’s go.”
Consortium MembersNiels Juul
Niels Juul is a Danish-born, US citizen who speaks six languages and is a globally renowned executive producer specializing in financing and packaging films.
He has worked on three Martin Scorsese movies — Silence, The Irishman, and Killers of the Flower Moon.
Before starting his career in film, Niels co-founded and ran the world-renowned fashion & lifestyle brand Von Dutch and was responsible for building it into a worldwide fashion brand.
Turnover grew from less than $2 million per annum into a $400 million business over a five-year period. Join WalesOnline Rugby’s WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free
After excelling in the fashion world, in 2008, Niels was tapped up to become CEO of Italian-US film company Cecchi Gori Pictures, with a mandate to restructure its operations and business.
During a span of five years, Juul was instrumental in securing a lucrative multi-million-dollar global distribution deal for its film library and bringing the company to profitability for the first time in 20 years.
“I’ve got 11 projects in the pipeline right now in terms of movies that are out there but I’m a little different to Gareth,” Juul said.
“I’m an executive producer so I’m more in the early stages of the development of the film.
“I then hand it over to producers who go on set and sit there and get yelled at by a director.
“It’s about fundraising, deal breaking and finding the right people who can actually get s**t done like Gareth.”
Potential new Cardiff investors Niels Juul (left) and Gareth West (right) at the Arms Park(Image: Gareth Everett/Huw Evans Agency)
Juul also brings expertise in branding and apparel.
He has worked with brands such as Von Dutch and Everlast and is experienced in revitalizing brands through re-design or rebranding.
“How do you take something that needs a little new life and tell a better story to get that brand out there to the world,” he told WalesOnline
“That story is told in an empathetic way and a way that impacts authentically with fans current and new.
He is currently working with Reg Clarke to develop the Rhino rugby brand, aiming to elevate it to an aspirational level — drawing from rugby’s history and aiming for something akin to a “Harrods scenario.”
“I’ve been able to do that with a bunch of brands in my time and I’m lucky to still be hired into an expertise role with Reg, for instance, with his Rhino brand that we think can turn it into a Ralph Lauren-type situation, particularly in America,” he said.
“We are taking the Rhino rugby model, make it an aspirational thing, draw a little bit from the Oxford Cambridge history and the history of rugby itself to bring it into leisure wear outside of sports wear.
“Into a Harrods scenario.
“I’ve done that recently for Mike Ashley (Sports Direct owner) with Everlast.”
Gareth West
Hollywood producer Gareth West has Welsh grandparents from Southerndown near Bridgend and is a lifelong Welsh rugby fan.
He is co-founder of Ketchup Entertainment, an American independent film production and distribution company.
“I’m a disruptor,” West told WalesOnline.
“We just bought Looney Tunes, Coyote vs Acme. We just bought that worldwide off Warner Brothers and we are going to be releasing that all over the world.”
Potential new Cardiff Rugby investor Gareth West(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)
West is currently producing a film with Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese called Carthage Must Be Destroyed, starring Chris Pine.
“Every film is a business,” he said.
“You bring in hundreds and sometimes thousands of people to put it all together.”
Ketchup Entertainment is known for distributing films such as Hypnotic (2023) and Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024). Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
Mark Williams
Mark Williams, of Welsh descent, played US collegiate representative rugby.
He co-founded Zero Gravity Management, a talent management and production company behind the hit Netflix series Ozark.
The company also produced films like The Accountant 2 and Honest Thief. Williams is an Emmy-nominated writer, director, and producer, and recently co-created a talent incubator with Stage 32 in July 2025.
With plans for a scripted TV series about Cardiff Rugby, Williams’ expertise will be invaluable.
“Mark in an earlier meeting said something that really resonated with me and it was about not hanging it around one or two celebrities,” Rhino CEO Reg Clark said.
“He said rather like what I did with Ozark, the place will be the biggest character.
“When I started watching it, it’s about the Ozarks more than anything. His idea is that it will be about the city.
“The ambition is to make the place the biggest character.”
Martyn Ryan
Martyn Ryan has been a Cardiff director since 2013 and has been involved in Welsh rugby for over 30 years as a player and administrator. His home club is Old Penarthians, and he joined London Welsh in 1984.
He has served as chairman of the Welsh Exiles and has sat on the Game Policy and Audit Committees of the WRU. Ryan is also a benefactor of Glamorgan CCC, a trustee of the rugby charity Touraid, and Chair of the Tom Maynard Trust.
Ryan is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, having qualified with PwC (then Coopers & Lybrand) in 1984.
He was formerly Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Genesis Investment Management, a leading Emerging Markets equities investment manager, and COO at the Japanese trust bank Chuo Trust International Limited.
Reg Clark
Reg Clark is CEO of Rhino Sport & Leisure, an official supplier of Cardiff Rugby and the WRU for 20 years. Rhino has supplied teams including England, the Springboks, France, Hong Kong, the Wallabies, the Varsity match, and the British & Irish Lions.
Clark has played a key role in promoting UK-Japan rugby relations, for which he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays by the Japanese government in 2023.