James Stebbing is General Counsel and Company Secretary of Six Nations Rugby Limited (SNRL), the official organising body of the Six Nations Championships (Men’s, Women’s, and Under 20’s), and the Autumn Nations Series.  James is a member of the SNRL executive management team, reports to the CEO, and is responsible for all legal, company secretarial, and governance affairs.  He holds multiple board directorships and has experience of large scale and complex private equity transactions involving sports rights holders, having played a leading role in CVC Capital Partners’ £365m investment in Six Nations Rugby in 2021, valuing the business at £2.5bn.  In addition, James has significant operational experience, having acted as interim co-Tournament Director of the Autumn Nations Cup 2020 and the Guinness Six Nations Championship 2021.

James is also an Executive Director of and General Counsel to British & Irish Lions DAC, the organisation responsible for the running of the iconic British & Irish Lions rugby team.  Prior to his current positions he was Head of Legal at the Rugby Football Union.

Prior to working in the Sports industry, he gained legal and business affairs experience in-house at the global head offices of FTSE 100 organisations Vodafone and Barclays.  James trained and qualified at the leading London Media & Entertainment law firm, Harbottle & Lewis.

James holds an MBA, tailored to executives working in the Sport industry, and was included in The Lawyer magazine’s 100 most impactful lawyers list for 2021 (The Lawyer Hot 100).