Major League Rugby
Major League Rugby is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2021 season it will be contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Officially sanctioned by USA Rugby, which is a member union of Rugby Americas North, and consequently part of World Rugby, the league was founded in 2017, and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
With its initial beginnings as part of established amateur rugby clubs in major North American urban areas, MLR began its first season in 2018 as an initiative of the American rugby community in partnership with private investors. Three further American clubs, in Atlanta, Boston, and Washington D.C., began play in 2020.
Major League Rugby implemented its first collegiate MLR Draft in 2020.
The 2020 season was suspended on March 12, 2020, due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. On March 18, the league announced that they would resume play in 2021.
History
Founding
In September 2016, with at least five amateur rugby union clubs across the United States discussing a possible professional league, Dean Howes, who had previously been an executive with Major League Soccer's Real Salt Lake and the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League, stepped in as senior strategic advisor for Rugby Utah in an attempt to provide a pathway for expanding professional rugby stateside.By February 2017, a total of nine amateur rugby union organizations including the Austin Huns, Dallas Griffins, Glendale Raptors, Houston Strikers, Kansas City Blues, Minneapolis, New Orleans RFC, Rugby Utah and the Seattle Saracens, announced their intentions to form a professional league to begin play the following year.
On August 15, 2017, the Austin Huns announced that it would opt-out of MLR in favor of allowing a newly-branded spinoff, the Austin Elite compete in the league. The Houston Strikers rebranded themselves as the Houston SaberCats. Whereas the elite players of New Orleans, Utah, and Seattle became the New Orleans Gold, Utah Warriors, and Seattle Seawolves respectively, interests in Minneapolis were replaced by the San Diego Legion. With Kansas City and Dallas still in planning stages, the league continued as seven members for its inaugural season.
On November 6, 2017, Major League Rugby and CBS Sports Network announced a multi-year television partnership which marked MLR's first major television deal for broadcast rights. It was the first time in American history that a new sporting league had a national television deal prior to launch.
Early seasons and rapid expansion
The first regular-season game in Major League Rugby history was held on April 21, 2018, when the Houston SaberCats hosted the New Orleans Gold in Houston.In addition to Rugby United New York, the Toronto Arrows joined the league ahead of 2019 season as the first Canadian team in MLR. Three further American clubs began play in 2020, with the New England Free Jacks, Old Glory DC, and Rugby ATL.
In late April 2019, RUNY announced the signing of French international Mathieu Bastareaud which is seen as a major coup for the league, since Bastereaud is a current French international and world-class player, making him by far the most prominent player in the league at that time.
In October 2019, another major signing was made when it was announced that All Blacks international and multiple World Cup winner Ma'a Nonu would join the San Diego Legion for the 2020 season. The following December saw another World Cup winner sign with the league, namely South Africa prop Tendai Mtawarira with Old Glory DC.
On March 12, 2020, MLR initially suspended its 2020 season for 30 days due to the coronavirus pandemic but then cancelled the remainder of the entire season on March 18. On April 9, the Colorado Raptors announced they were leaving the league.
On May 28, 2020, the LA Giltinis were introduced as an expansion team based in Los Angeles, set to begin competition in the 2021 MLR season. The name is a combination of the word "martini" and the last name of owner Adam Gilchrist.
On June 4, 2020, the Dallas Jackals were introduced as an expansion team based in Dallas, Texas set to begin competition in the 2021 MLR season.
Competition format
Major League Rugby spans five months from February through to the end of June. The 2019 regular season was a double round-robin with all clubs playing each other home and away. Each team played sixteen games, half of them at home. This was followed by a postseason for the top four teams consisting of two semi-final matches and the Championship Game to determine the season's MLR champion team.For the 2020 season, MLR changed to a conference format. Both conferences, the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference, consisted of six teams: Seattle, San Diego, Utah, Colorado, Austin and Houston in the west and existing teams New Orleans, New York, and Toronto to be joined by 2020 newcomers Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and New England in the east. Each team played a double round-robin within their conference in addition to playing six games against teams from the other conference, for a total of 16 regular-season games. The postseason would consist of the top three teams from each conference: a wildcard game between the second and third ranked teams, followed by a playoff game between the wildcard winner and the first ranked team in the conference. The resulting playoff winners from each conference would then face off in the league championship. The season started on February 8 and ended on March 8.
The league is structured as a closed system and, similar to other American sports leagues, does not have promotion and relegation. It operates as a single entity similar to Major League Soccer and other major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, with each team or "franchise" owned by the league and the franchise operators owning a share of the league.
Teams
Map
2020 teams
There are twelve teams that were to compete in the 2020 Major League Rugby season with a scheduled regular season of 96 matches and teams divided into two conferences:| Conference | Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Joined | Coach | Broadcasters |
| Western | Austin Gilgronis | Austin, Texas | Bold Stadium | 5,000 | 2018 | Brent Semmons | CBS Austin Univision Austin |
| Western | Colorado Raptors | Glendale, Colorado | Infinity Park | 5,000 | 2018 | Peter Borlase | KUSA9 |
| Western | Houston SaberCats | Houston, Texas | Aveva Stadium | 4,000 | 2018 | Paul Healy | KUBE-TV Univision Houston |
| Western | San Diego Legion | San Diego, California | Torero Stadium | 6,000 | 2018 | Rob Hoadley | FOX 5 San Diego Univision San Diego |
| Western | Seattle Seawolves | Tukwila, Washington | Starfire Stadium | 4,500 | 2018 | Kees Lensing | Univision Seattle Root Sports Northwest |
| Western | Utah Warriors | Herriman, Utah | Zions Bank Stadium | 5,000 | 2018 | Chris Latham | Univision Utah My Utah TV |
| Eastern | New England Free Jacks | Weymouth, Massachusetts | Union Point Sports Complex | 2,000 | 2020 | Josh Smith | CBS 4 Boston NESNplus |
| Eastern | New Orleans Gold | Metairie, Louisiana | Gold Mine | 10,000 | 2018 | Nate Osborne | Cox Sports TV Telemundo Nuevo Orleans |
| Eastern | Old Glory DC | Washington, D.C. | Cardinal Stadium | 3,500 | 2020 | Andrew Douglas | Univision DC NBC Sports Washington |
| Eastern | Rugby United New York | Brooklyn, New York | MCU Park | 7,000 | 2019 | Greg McWilliams | SportsNet New York Univision Nueva York |
| Eastern | Rugby ATL | Marietta, Georgia | Lupo Family Field | 2,500 | 2020 | Scott Lawerence | WSB-TV |
| Eastern | Toronto Arrows | Toronto, Ontario | Alumni Field Lamport Stadium | 2,500+ 9,600 | 2019 | Chris Silverthorn | TSN |
Timeline
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bar:1 color:black fontsize:M from:12/20/2018 till:01/01/2019 text: Expand to 9 Teams
bar:1 color:white fontsize:M from:01/15/2019 till: 12/10/2019
bar:1 color:black fontsize:M from:12/20/2019 till:01/01/2020 text: Expand to 12 Teams
bar:1 color:white fontsize:M from:01/15/2020 till: 12/10/2020
bar:1 color:black fontsize:M from:12/20/2020 till:01/01/2021 text: Expand to 13 Teams
bar:1 color:white fontsize:M from:01/15/2021 till: 12/10/2021
bar:2 color:powderblue fontsize:M from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2019 text: Austin Elite
bar:2 color:skyblue fontsize:M from:01/01/2020 till:end text: Austin Gilgronis
bar:3 color:powderblue fontsize:M from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2019 text: Glendale Raptors
bar:3 color:pink fontsize:M from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text: Colorado Raptors
bar:4 color:skyblue fontsize:M from:01/01/2018 till:end text: Houston Sabercats
bar:5 color:skyblue fontsize:M from:01/01/2018 till:end text: San Diego Legion
bar:6 color:skyblue fontsize:M from:01/01/2018 till:end text: Seattle Seawolves
bar:7 color:skyblue fontsize:M from:01/01/2018 till:end text: Utah Warriors
bar:8 color:skyblue fontsize:M from:01/01/2018 till:end text: NOLA Gold
bar:9 color:skyblue fontsize:M from:01/01/2019 till:end text: Rugby United NY
bar:10 color:skyblue fontsize:M from:01/01/2019 till:end text: Toronto Arrows
bar:11 color:skyblue fontsize:M from:01/01/2020 till:end text: New England Free Jacks
bar:12 color:skyblue fontsize:M from:01/01/2020 till:end text: Old Glory DC
bar:13 color:skyblue fontsize:M from:01/01/2020 till:end text: Rugby ATL
bar:14 color:skyblue fontsize:M from:01/01/2021 till:end text: Dallas Jackals
bar:15 color:skyblue fontsize:M from:01/01/2021 till:end text: LA Giltinis
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Expansion teams
The expansion franchise fee is US$4 million as of 2019. In November 2019, the only expansion team mentioned by the league is to be based in Dallas, although no other information on the team has been announced. In December 2019, another new team proposed for 2021 called Loyals Rugby, based in Los Angeles, was announced at the press conference introducing new commissioner George Killebrew. The Los Angeles franchise was named the LA Giltinis on May 28, 2020. The Dallas Franchise was named the Dallas Jackals on June 5, 2020.Expansion candidates
In July 2018, an ownership group in Los Angeles announced its intentions to join in the 2019 season as LA Coast Rugby, but the bid was ultimately rejected. Instead, an Australian ownership group has been approved to field a team in Los Angeles with a 2021 start date called the Los Angeles Loyals. An owner in Vancouver, British Columbia, announced intentions to add a team to MLR for the 2019 season, but also never went further. Columbus, Ohio, which previously had a team in PRO Rugby, nearly became home to a relocated Austin Herd in the 2020 season. The owner of the HFX Wanderers FC soccer team also stated he had been in talks with the league for an expansion team. In December 2019, former RC Toulon majority owner Mourad Boudjellal apparently discussed making a bid for a team in Miami. MLR has confirmed that a team from Hawaii is being considered for 2021.Former teams
Champions
;By year;By team
| Club | Winner | Runner up |
| Seattle Seawolves | 2 | 0 |
| Colorado Raptors | 0 | 1 |
| San Diego Legion | 0 | 1 |
Players
Major League Rugby players include those drawn from North American clubs, as well as foreign signings. Although the original concept was to limit club to three foreign players, the limit grew to five before the start of the first season, before then being increased to ten. This increased allotment of foreign players led to some criticism that MLR was not providing enough opportunities for American players to develop.Awards
;MLR season| Player of the Year | Forward of the Year | Back of the Year | Coach of the Year | |
| 2019 |
;MLR championship
| MVP of the Championship Match | MVP of the Championship Series | |
| 2018 | ||
| 2019 |
Television coverage
Major League Rugby programming runs in prime weekend time slots on Saturday afternoons and Sunday evenings.The CBS Sports Network televises 13 matches nationally over the course of the season. This includes a Game of the Week during each of the 10 rounds of the MLR regular season along with all three post-season matches. Live streaming is also available through the CBS Sports Network streaming platforms. Dan Power, Brian Hightower and Stacy Paetz were the CBS Sports commentators for the 2019 season. The remaining games are available on ESPN properties and regional sports networks.
ESPN has the national and international rights to an 18-game package covering regular season matches to audiences across its various platforms.
AT&T Sports Networks have a 17-game package covering six of the seven MLR teams for games not broadcast on the CBS Sports Network. Home-and-away matches for Austin, Houston and New Orleans are carried on AT&T SportsNet Southwest. Seattle's matches are carried on Root Sports Northwest and all Colorado and Utah games are hosted on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.
San Diego has a separate local rights agreement for their market with all the Legion's home-and-away MLR games that are not on the CBS Sports Network being televised locally on Channel 4 YurView California.
Austin Elite Rugby partnered with Facebook Watch for their Texas-based viewers during the 2019 season.
Rugby United New York announced regional television partnership with SNY, which will televise nine games of RUNY's inaugural season, with the premiere game airing LIVE Sunday, January 27 at 5:00 PM EST. Also, NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Philadelphia+ will join SNY in televising match coverage of eight remaining games, beginning Saturday February 16 at 3 PM EST when RUNY travels to face the NOLA Gold. The partnership with the NBC Sports Regional Networks expands RUNY's TV market into two key East Coast markets.
Toronto Arrows Rugby announced a television partnership with GameTV for the 2019 season.
The 2019 Championship game was broadcast on CBS, the first MLR game to be televised on free-to-air TV. It gained a 0.32 Sports TV rating which equated to 510,000 two-plus-person households.
Attendance
Top five attendances for Major League Rugby games :| Rank | Attendance | Game | Date | Season | Venue | Metro area |
| 1 | 6,000 | San Diego Legion vs Seattle Seawolves | 2 | Torero Stadium | San Diego, CA | |
| 2 | 4,500 | San Diego Legion vs Rugby United New York | 2 | Torero Stadium | San Diego, CA | |
| 3 | 4,175 | San Diego Legion vs New Orleans Gold | 2 | Torero Stadium | San Diego, CA | |
| 4 | 4,000 | Glendale Raptors vs Seattle Seawolves | 2 | Infinity Park | Glendale, CO | |
| 5 | 3,800 | Seattle Seawolves vs Austin Elite | 2 | Starfire Stadium | Seattle, WA | |
| 5 | 3,800 | Seattle Seawolves vs Utah Warriors | 2 | Starfire Stadium | Seattle, WA |
The highest attended non-competition game by an MLR team was a pre-season clash between Utah Warriors and Glendale Raptors, March 31, 2018, which drew 9,186 at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Attendance for the inaugural season was ~1833 per match. That average increased in 2019 with an average of 2133 per game and a total of 159,000 attendees.
Executives
Commissioner- George Killebrew
- Dean Howes
- Nic Benson
Sponsorship
On October 28, 2019, Major League Rugby announced that, starting for the 2020 season, Paladin Sports will be the new supplier of all uniforms/kit for the league.
On January 2, 2020, MLR partnered with Rhino Rugby for the 2020 season. Rhino Rugby is the official ball and technical training equipment supplier for the 2020 MLR season. The Rhino Rugby "Vortex Elite" ball is the official MLR match ball for all 12 teams. The Vortex Elite is currently the official ball of Rugby Europe, and Asia Rugby, and has been used in the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship the past several years