The 2023 Major League Rugby Championship Final was the fifth

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

(MLR) championship match, held at the conclusion of the 6th season of the

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club competition in North America. The match was played on July 8, 2023, at

SeatGeek Stadium SeatGeek Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois, about twelve miles southwest of downtown Chicago. It is the home stadium of the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women's Soccer League, Chicago Fire FC II of the MLS Next P ...

Bridgeview, Illinois Bridgeview is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located approximately southwest of the Chicago Loop. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the village population was 17,027. History The e ...

. It was the first MLR Final to be held in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, and the first since the 2019 final to be held at a pre-determined venue. The match was won by the New England Free Jacks over the

San Diego Legion The San Diego Legion is an American professional rugby union team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby. Home field The team plays at Snapdragon Stadium, which is located on the campus o ...

by a score of 25-24, claiming their first MLR Championship.

Background

On March 16, 2023, MLR announced that the Championship Final would be held at

, the home ground of the

Chicago Hounds The Chicago Hounds were a minor league, minor professional ice hockey team in the United Hockey League (UHL) for the 2006–07 UHL season. They played their home games at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The new UHL team was approved ...

. The format for qualifying for the Championship Series remained the same from

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, with the top-ranked team of each conference receiving a bye to the Conference Final, as well as home advantage. Likewise, the second-ranked team would host the third-ranked team of their respective conference, in the Eliminators. In the Western Conference,

qualified for the Championship Series following a victory over the defending Champions,

Rugby New York Rugby New York, formerly known as Rugby United New York and now officially nicknamed the Ironworkers, are a professional rugby union team based in New York City that is a member of Major League Rugby (MLR). The team played an exhibition season in ...

. They were then able to secure the top ranking with a victory over the

Toronto Arrows Toronto Arrows R.F.C. is a rugby union club based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that plays in Major League Rugby. The Arrows team is an independent off-shoot of the Ontario Blues provincial programme and is funded by a group of private investors ...

. The second-ranked team, the

Seattle Seawolves The Seattle Seawolves are an American professional rugby union team based in Tukwila, Washington. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby (MLR), the top-level rugby union competition in the United States that began play ...

, qualified following a victory over the

Utah Warriors The Utah Warriors are a professional rugby union team that competes in Major League Rugby, the top-level rugby union competition in the United States and Canada that played its first season in 2018. The team is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and ...

. The third-ranked team,

Houston Sabercats The Houston SaberCats are an American professional rugby union team based in Houston, Texas. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby, the top-level rugby union competition in the United States and Canada that played its fi ...

, qualified following a victory over Old Glory DC. In the Eastern Conference, New England Free Jacks qualified both for the Championship Series, and the top ranking, with a victory over the Toronto Arrows. The second-ranked team, Old Glory DC, qualified for the Championship series following their victory over New Orleans Gold. Finally, defending Champions,

, qualified after their victory over

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Championship Series

Western Conference

In the Western Eliminator, the

defeated

37-26, at Starfire Sports Stadium. This marked Seattle's fourth and Houston's second Championship Series appearances, respectfully. The teams had previously faced each other in the Championship Series in

. In the Conference Final, Seattle were hosted by

, at

Snapdragon Stadium Snapdragon Stadium, known during its planning and early construction phases as Aztec Stadium, is an outdoor college football stadium on the West Coast of the United States, west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. It is loc ...

, where the Legion won 32-10. This marked the third time San Diego has reached the Championship Series, and the first time they played in the Conference Final. Seattle reached their second Conference Final in succession. This also marked San Diego and Seattle's fourth encounter in the post-season, having previously met in the 2018 semi-final, 2019 final, and 2022 eliminator.

Eastern Conference

The Eastern Eliminator featured

hosting Old Glory DC, with Washington upset New York 37-33. This was New York's third consecutive appearance in the Championship Series, having reached the Conference Final in

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, and winning the Championship Final in

. This also marked DC's first appearance in the post-season, since their inception in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

. In the Conference Final, New England Free Jacks hosted Old Glory DC, at Veterans Memorial Stadium, winning the match 25-7. This was New England's second Eastern Conference final, having finished top of the Eastern ranking in both

and

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, and DC's first. The match also marked New England's and DC's first encounter in the Championship Series.

Venue

On March 16, 2023, MLR announced that the Championship Final would be held at

, the home ground of the

. Part of the festivities includes a pre-match DJ set by

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

(as DJ Diesel,) and a post-match concert by

Dropkick Murphys Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. Singer and bassist Ken Casey has been the band's only constant member. Other current members include drummer Matt Kelly (1997– ), singer Al Barr (199 ...

Broadcasting

The match was broadcast in the United States on

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, averaging 269,000 viewers. It was available internationally on The Rugby Network.

Championship final

Details

The San Diego Legion were declared the "home" side, after accumulating more table points in the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

References

{{Major League Rugby Major League Rugby finals Major League Rugby final Major League Rugby final