Whatever they are offering, ask for more.
Exeter confirmed last week that a takeover offer is on the table for club.
Whether they were tuning in from the United States or, as in the case of Black Knight board member Ryan Caswell, at Sandy Park in person, their prospective new owners were served up a fantastic advert of what the league can be.
The Chiefs were on the losing side – Fin Smith dancing around England team-mate Immanuel Feyi -Waboso on the final play of the game for the winning score – but a superb toe-to-toe contest in front of a sun-bathed, 12,000-strong crowd was prime sporting ‘product’.
Northampton caught the mood as well.
Henry Pollock unveiled a new try celebration, lobbing the ball in the air before ‘shooting’ it down with a mimed rifle. Number eight Callum Chick showed a fine bit of slipper, landing a 50:22. Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson seemed to motion to ask the home fans to find the knock-on in Smith’s game-winning score after the visitors had had an earlier try ruled out.
Tom Litchfield’s performance at outside centre will give Dowson more reason to smile.
The 24-year-old made the most metres of any of the Saints backline in their win over Saracens at Tottenham Stadium last time out in the league and was a muscular, intelligent presence once again.
The result, combined with Bristol’s win over Gloucester on Friday night, adds some much-needed intrigue to the top-four conundrum.
The Bears are four points off Exeter.
Northampton sit top of the pile still, but the fixture list will test their grip on the summit.
They host second-placed Bath next (albeit the visitors seem set to rest some stars with a looming Champions Cup semi-final against Bordeaux-Begles), before travelling to in-form Leicester and then hosting Bristol.
