Major League Rugby

[Mellsblue]

First taste of proper MLR this weekend with Houston Sabercats and New Orleans Gold playing a pre-season friendly. Houston won 30-12, probably due to them having been playing friendlies for the past 6 weeks and thus having game-time under their belt. Footage is limited as the pre-season games aren't televised, but this looks like a relatively solid standard of play:


Interesting article about New York here: http://www.the42.ie/rugby-united-new-yo ... 4-Feb2018/. Highlights include that they've already got a squad, are involved in the grass roots and actively working on links with schools, colleges, and clubs, and have had feelers from European clubs about friendlies this summer. With luck, a strong exhibition season this year and getting woven solidly into the rugby community will effectively cock-block the 2019 rugby league carpetbaggers and their imported team from getting too much of a toehold like they have in Toronto.

Puja

Very interesting read and it sounds like they are building the club correctly. It also sounds like the stadium in Yonkers is very much in the early stages.

[Puja]

Few more details about expansion for 2019 have come out (unofficially officially in various interviews with members of the MLR board) - there will definitely be 10 US teams, with an extra two 2 Canadian teams in Vancouver and Ontario looking promising but pending negotiations (presumably with the Canadian RU). New York is obviously announced as one of the three US expansions, with rumour heavily suggesting Chicago and Dallas as the other two.

They plan to keep it as a 12 team league for a few years after that and then reassess, which I think is wise. There's interest and active enquiries from Boston, Washington, Philadelpia, Kansas City, Minneapolis, and Los Angeles, with rumours also floating around Alberta, Ohio, and Sacramento, but I think they want to be careful about expanding too much, too quickly, and ending up with too many weak teams fighting over too few players and too little money. Best to let prospective entrants build themselves up in exhibition seasons and drive up interest before allowing them in.



Puja

[rowan]

A little underwhelming . . .

[rowan]

The Rugby Channel, the only year-round business of Rugby International Marketing, has lost $4.2 million to date, according to minutes from USA Rugby’s Feb. 9-11 Congress meeting in Dallas, Texas. The minutes detail an array of discussion topics, but none more pressing or compelling than USA Rugby’s subsidiaries, RIM and TRC.

“The USA Rugby Congress has grave concerns about the operations of RIM and its future viability,” read a resolution passed by Congress at the assembly. “As Congress, we request the USA Rugby Board provide Congress with a detailed plan to (a) immediately undertake a fiscal risk analysis of RIM and create a plan to correct the deficits if needed, and (b) provide a business plan outlining a clear path to future commercial sustainability and viability over the next 5-10 years.

“This two-step plan should be undertaken by a collective group of third party experts in the field and should include an analysis, of the practice and future of RIM. The first objective should however to be completed no later than April 30 2018, with the second objective to be completed by the next Board Meeting on June 9.”

http://www.rugbytoday.com/elite/congres ... losses-trc

[rowan]

Glendale defeats NOLA Gold 38-14

Report: https://www.earfulofdirt.com/2018/03/gl ... -nola.html

[rowan]

USA Rugby’s congress debated and voted on a petition to recall USA Rugby board member Chad Keck Wednesday, with 24 votes being cast to remove Keck, 14 to keep him on the board, and eight congress members not participating. The 24 yes votes did not constitute the requisite two-thirds majority necessary to recall Keck, leaving him on the board.

The vote comes less than two weeks after Keck was removed from the board of Rugby International Marketing, USA Rugby’s for-profit subsidiary. RIM is under fire for its lack of performance, most notably the $4.2 million in losses accrued by its only year-round property, The Rugby Channel. The decision to stage an international friendly between Wales and South Africa the same weekend as the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship and USA Rugby’s club 15s championships has also drawn sharp criticism, as well as the lackluster marketing efforts around home Eagle test matches.

Congress signaled its displeasure at its assembly last month, penning and approving a resolution in which it expressed, “grave concerns about the operations of RIM and its future viability”. With growing concern that RIM may not be able to make its 2018 fourth quarter payment to USA Rugby, per their licensing agreement, Congress also set deadlines for USA Rugby’s board to provide a risk analysis and business plan.

Story continues here: http://www.rugbytoday.com/elite/majorit ... not-enough

[Mellsblue]

RUNY name their first side. Two points of interest. Firstly, they’ve obviously studied the Top 14 and therefore have the obligatory Fijian with a wonderful name. Secondly, the have 24 in the match day squad. Rookie error, dyslexic head coach or MLR rules? I’ll assume it’s the latter, but not discount the other options, does anyone know the rationale behind the extra player?

[rowan]

Tonight the Raptors were able to really test out their home turf and practice in the Infinity Park Stadium for the first time since the fall. We planned to make this a big event and invited all the owners of the team to come in and watch. We then held an owners meet ‘n greet, allowing the investors of our team a chance to meet the players and staff and vice versa. Everyone had a nice dinner and finished the evening with a few choice words from the players, owners and other VIP’s in the room. https://www.glendaleraptors.com/news/ma ... sal-appeal

[Puja]

RUNY name their first side. Two points of interest. Firstly, they’ve obviously studied the Top 14 and therefore have the obligatory Fijian with a wonderful name. Secondly, the have 24 in the match day squad. Rookie error, dyslexic head coach or MLR rules? I’ll assume it’s the latter, but not discount the other options, does anyone know the rationale behind the extra player?

I believe it's an arrangement between RUNY and Ontario to allow them to see more of their squads in a friendly. Houston did something similar in one of their games with both teams having 25.

The game finished 36-19 to RUNY, which is an impressive result considering New York have lost some players to MLR teams this year and that Ontario managed a draw with the impressive Houston Sabercats a fortnight ago. Looks like NY could be a pretty strong team come 2019.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

MLR sign a pretty comprehensive broadcast deal with ESPN. Here’s hoping we get to see a bit of the action via BT Sports.

[rowan]

Yes, I was just reading about that. Looks solid. Details here:

Major League Rugby (MLR) and ESPN today announced an exclusive distribution agreement for MLR’s inaugural season, launching April 2018. The deal is a vital part of providing rugby fans access to all 31 regular and postseason games of MLR’s first season, carried LIVE across all devices.

ESPN will carry an 18-game package covering regular season games to national and international audiences across its platforms. In addition to the game coverage, ESPN.com will feature MLR content creating a prominent destination for fans of rugby globally for the American startup League.

Regional sports networks in the seven markets with teams in 2018 will also broadcast the 18-game package. Earlier this fall, MLR announced a 13-game lead-television package with CBS Sports Network including coverage of the semifinals and championship game.

https://www.usmlr.com/news/major-league ... -agreement

[Puja]

RUNY kick things off at home with a 50-0 demolition of a Boston side, in front of a sell-out crowd at Gaelic Park. Okay, so that's only 2k, but even so, the interest is highly promising.

New Orleans drew at home to Houston in front of 700, which is the lowest crowd of the pre-season games so far. In comparison, Houston have been getting 2,500, Glendale 2k, RUNY 2k, Seattle claim to have sold 2k season tickets (although aren't having any pre-season games, weirdly), Utah are talking up 5k for their first friendly (although words are cheaper than tickets), Austin are expecting 1.5-2k to their game tonight, and San Diego got 1,900 in PRO Rugby despite the league doing no marketing. NOLA's squad is also looking to be the weakest in the league, which is not a good way to get fans in. Hopefully they can get a couple of good signings in the pack and get the marketing team out working to make an impression on the New Orleans sporting landscape - it wouldn't be good to have a team die off early doors and you'd have to say they're the favourites to fail.

An interesting aside: South America is due to set up its own version of MLR in 2019. It will apparently be 8 pro teams, with 2 in Brazil, 2-3 in Uruguay, 2-3 in Argentina, and 1-2 in Chile. No details of much as yet, but Uruguay's union are in talks with the big football teams to create spin-offs of those teams, so their new rugby clubs have an identity and a chance to tap into the existing fanbases, which strikes me as a sensible plan and potentially something for Brazil to copy.

Puja

[rowan]

Apparently the Seawolves have all but sold out their home games for the entire season. Again, it's a fairly small stadium, but that's encouraging. Maybe they'll need to move up to bigger stadia in the not too distant future.

The South American pro comp looks like an interesting concept. I just had a read of the original report in Spanish (on Referi) and it seems this is being promoted by Agustin Pichot, unsurprisingly. He was the driving force behind the ARC, of course.

Further down the line I think we could start to think about an entire South American conference being added to Super Rugby. Imagine that! It could be a Super 20 with 4 or 5 teams in South America, South Africa, Australia & NZ respectively (plus 1 or 2 other teams to make up the numbers).

[Puja]

Couple more bits of news on crowd numbers.

Seattle are now reporting that they've sold a minimum of 3,500 tickets (out of capacity of 4,500) for each of their four home games, with the opener against San Diego being completely sold out of regular seats and tickets now being sold for overflow bleachers, presumably to sit at either end of the pitch.

And further south, Utah Warriors opened their pre-season in front of 7,596 in a game against Glendale. Their first two friendlies had to be moved to a neighbouring 20k stadium due to their new 5k not being ready for another couple of a weeks, so they've chucked a lot of freebies and promos out to get a decent crowd. Impressive numbers, even with the freebies and hopefully some of them will follow Utah when the freebies run out. Although playing the strongest team in the competition and getting gubbed 15-41 probably won't help with that. Next up is Ontario which should be a better level for them, although they may have lost their best opportunity to win fans.

I watched the first half and it was pretty solid quality. About English Championship level, I'd say, although a bit more free-flowing. Glendale's cohesion was the big difference between the sides - they've been together as a squad and effectively semi-pro for a couple of years, with one pre-season game under their belt already - and they were just that bit quicker in support and linking up.

Puja


ETA. That Utah crowd figure was wrong - it was actually 9,186! No matter how many were free, that's a hell of a result.

[Mellsblue]

I watched the first half and it was pretty solid quality.

Puja

Where?

[Puja]

I watched the first half and it was pretty solid quality.

Puja

Where?

Full game is here:


The Glendale 13 is worth a watch - only 19 years old, but big, fast and with some very nice hands. He could go very far indeed.

In contrast to that game, New Orleans got just 500 people to watch them win their pre-season against Austin. I'm hoping their marketing team is keeping their powder dry and planning a big launch for when the proper season starts, cause otherwise that's very depressing.

Puja

[rowan]

There have been some good crowds all around. Looks promising!

[Mellsblue]

I watched the first half and it was pretty solid quality.

Puja

Where?

Full game is here:


The Glendale 13 is worth a watch - only 19 years old, but big, fast and with some very nice hands. He could go very far indeed.

In contrast to that game, New Orleans got just 500 people to watch them win their pre-season against Austin. I'm hoping their marketing team is keeping their powder dry and planning a big launch for when the proper season starts, cause otherwise that's very depressing.

Puja

Cheers

[Puja]

Cheers

I'd be very interested in your perspective on the quality level Mells - obviously you watch a lot more Championship that me so you can tell me how warranted my comparison was. If they can keep the quality at or go above Championship level (and get decent crowds and thus money) it could entice the likes of Civetta, Palamo and Fry (maybe Hooley!) to come across and play at home.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

Cheers

I'd be very interested in your perspective on the quality level Mells - obviously you watch a lot more Championship that me so you can tell me how warranted my comparison was. If they can keep the quality at or go above Championship level (and get decent crowds and thus money) it could entice the likes of Civetta, Palamo and Fry (maybe Hooley!) to come across and play at home.

Puja

I’ll have a watch and let you know. Leinster v Sarries takes precedence today, though.

Having a read about the quality of players on the various teams rosters (is that the correct American term?!?!?) Champ level sounds about right, with a decent amount of individual players as outliers at both ends of the scale.

This is a very positive piece:
https://blog.ridnell.com/2018/03/31/maj ... ssion=true

[Mellsblue]

it was pretty solid quality. About English Championship level,

Puja

Spot on. I was very pleasantly suprised. I expected a load of raw athletes with poor basics, but passing, set pieces and breakdown were all good quality. Passing was particularly good, there are quite a few Prem players that aren’t up to that standard.

[Digby]

it was pretty solid quality. About English Championship level,

Puja

Spot on. I was very pleasantly suprised. I expected a load of raw athletes with poor basics, but passing, set pieces and breakdown were all good quality. Passing was particularly good, there are quite a few Prem players that aren’t up to that standard.

Put the Prem players in the Championship and their passing would suddenly look much improved

[Puja]

it was pretty solid quality. About English Championship level,

Puja

Spot on. I was very pleasantly suprised. I expected a load of raw athletes with poor basics, but passing, set pieces and breakdown were all good quality. Passing was particularly good, there are quite a few Prem players that aren’t up to that standard.

Put the Prem players in the Championship and their passing would suddenly look much improved

Not an unfair point - the major thing that was missing from that game was defensive cohesion and intensity. It's a lot easier to get a pass on target when you've got time and don't have half an eye out for CGS coming to remove some ribs. Still, it was overall very promising indeed and hopefully will set the level for the league.

Puja

[Puja]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/ ... -gallagher

Tucked in amongst the articles about the new Premiership sponsorship rumours was the news that it could mean the annual US game moving to Chicago or NY/NJ. Also said that it would be between Sale and Quins, which is a much better choice for entertaining a neutral than anything featuring Saracens.

Sources said Rugby United New York, a professional team due to enter Major League Rugby in 2019, is in negotiations to play a curtain-raising fixture if the Premiership game is at the Red Bull.

That would be a massive boost for the league if it came off and having a local partner would likely boost ticket sales and ensure that the Premiership didn't make so many amateur hour mistakes of organisation as happened to cause the debacle in Philadelphia last year.

Puja

[Puja]

Bit of a reality check for MLR this weekend - the quality was a significant step lower in the Utah vs Ontario friendly than it was last week and the Austin vs NOLA game was a notch below that. Looks like Glendale are up on their own at Championship level, with Utah, Houston and San Diego lower end Champ and Austin and NOLA at ND1 at best (And no-one's got a clue about Seattle because they haven't played yet). It's Glendale's league to lose really.

Still, off the pitch, Utah followed up their 9k crowd last week with 4,967 which is impressive for a second hit-out, especially after getting spanked last week. Unfortunately they lost again to Ontario, but this one only by 4 points and with quite a bit for the crowd to shout about. Hopefully they'll continue to get 4k+ crowds in the real season. San Diego also got a crowd of 2.5k to see them lose to Houston and Austin showed that they're competing with NOLA to be the worst team on several fronts with a crowd that barely scraped 300 and a pitch that had temporary goalposts that sat on the dead ball line. Hopefully that'll be sorted by the time the league proper starts on the 21st.

Puja