Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional

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 ...

competition and the top-level championship for clubs in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and one from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Officially sanctioned by

USA Rugby USA Rugby (officially the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugb ...

—a member union of

Rugby Americas North Rugby Americas North, abbreviated as RAN, is the governing body for rugby union in the North American continental region. Rugby Americas North operates under the authority of World Rugby, and is one of six regional unions represented within it. ...

(RAN)—and consequently part of

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

, the league was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. 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

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some specie ...

s. Three further American clubs, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, and

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

, began play in 2020. Major League Rugby implemented its first collegiate MLR Draft 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 2020, Major League Rugby teams started forming youth academies. The 2020 season was suspended on March 12, 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On March 18, the league announced that they would resume play in 2021, with two new teams in both

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 2021 and

joining in 2022 (delayed by one year). The 2022 season was marked by the disqualification, and subsequent departure, of two teams from the Western Conference,

LA Giltinis The LA Giltinis are a former Major League Rugby team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. The team was announced in 2020 and entered the league in the 2021 season as an expansion franchise. The Giltinis, named for a yet-to-be-released ...

and

Austin Gilgronis The Austin Gilgronis were a professional rugby union team based in Austin, Texas, United States. The team was founded in 2017 as the Austin Elite, and competed in Major League Rugby. History On September 19, 2019, after extensive polling at th ...

, both of whom had been under the ownership of Adam Gilchrist. This setback was offset with the announcement of a new franchise in Chicago, starting

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

, opening the competition to the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

for the first time and bringing the circuit back to twelve teams.

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 Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 2 ...

and the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, 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 The Austin Huns Rugby Football Club is a Men's Rugby Club American rugby union team based in Austin, Texas. In June 2017 they became U.S. Division 1 National Champions beating New York Athletic Club RFC 27-23 in the final match. History The Aus ...

, Dallas Griffins, Glendale Raptors, Houston Strikers, Kansas City Blues, Minneapolis, New Orleans RFC, Rugby Utah and the

Seattle Saracens The Seattle Rugby Club (formerly Seattle Saracens and Old Puget Sound Beach after a merger) is a rugby union club based in Seattle. The club travels throughout the US and into Canada. In 2014 the club was ranked as the number one US club while als ...

, 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 The Austin Gilgronis were a professional rugby union team based in Austin, Texas, United States. The team was founded in 2017 as the Austin Elite, and competed in Major League Rugby. History On September 19, 2019, after extensive polling at t ...

compete in the league. The Houston Strikers rebranded themselves as the

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 f ...

. Whereas the elite players of New Orleans, Utah, and Seattle became the

New Orleans Gold The New Orleans Gold, stylized as NOLA Gold, is a professional rugby union team based in New Orleans. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby. Since January 2020, Top 14, French rugby power ASM Clermont Auvergne has owned ...

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 ...

, and Seattle Seawolves respectively, interests in Minneapolis were replaced by 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 ...

. 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 CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

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

hosted the

in Houston. In addition to

Rugby United 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 ...

, 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 ...

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 The New England Free Jacks are a professional rugby union team in Major League Rugby (MLR) based in the Greater Boston area. They were announced in September 2018 and began to compete professionally in October 2018. They competed in their first ...

Old Glory DC Old Glory DC RFC is a professional rugby union team that is a member of Major League Rugby (MLR), founded in 2018. The organization is led by two local business leaders, former USA Eagles' Paul Sheehy and local club rugby player Chris Dunlavey. ...

, and

Rugby ATL Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

. With the opening of Aveva Stadium as Houston's permanent stadium in April 2019, MLR gained its first stadium that was specifically built for league play. Later in April, RUNY announced the signing of French international Mathieu Bastareaud on a loan deal from Toulon for the 2020 season. In October 2019, another major signing was made when it was announced that

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

international and multiple

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

winner

Ma'a Nonu Ma'a Allan Nonu (; born 21 May 1982) is a professional rugby union player from New Zealand who currently plays for the San Diego Legion in Major League Rugby (MLR). He plays in the inside centre, but can also cover outside centre and wing. H ...

would join the

for the 2020 season. The following December saw another World Cup winner sign with the league, namely

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

prop

Tendai Mtawarira Tendai Mtawarira (born 1 August 1985) is a Zimbabwean-South African retired professional rugby union player who last played for Old Glory DC in Major League Rugby and previously for the South Africa national team and the in Super Rugby. He w ...

with

. On March 12, 2020, MLR initially suspended its 2020 season for 30 days due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

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

were added as an expansion team based in Los Angeles to begin competition in the 2021 season. The name is a combination of the word "martini" and the last name of owner Adam Gilchrist. This was followed on June 4, 2020, with the addition of

Dallas Jackals The Dallas Jackals are a Major League Rugby team that began play in the 2022 season as an expansion franchise. They were originally going to join the MLR for the 2021 season, but on January 19, 2021, the Jackals delayed their inaugural season to ...

based in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

for the 2021 season. However, on January 19, 2021, Dallas announced that the team would postpone their inaugural season to 2022. The MLR announced on November 17, 2022 that the new expansion team will be 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 ...

who will compete as 12th MLR team in the 2023 season. MLR unveiled the team name, logo, and color scheme for their newest franchise. A press conference was held to officially announce MLR's latest expansion team. Commissioner George Killebrew was joined by Chicago Hounds Head Coach Sam Harris and current players Mike Mattarazzo,

Sydney Shoop Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...

, and Caleb Strum, all of whom were selected by Chicago in the MLR expansion draft on November 10. The Hounds will compete in MLR's Western Conference, donning the team colors of green and sky blue. The team will play their inaugural match on the road at Old Glory DC on Saturday, February 18, 2023. The Hounds home opener will be against the Utah Warriors 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, United States. It is located approximately southwest of the Chicago Loop. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 17,027. History The earliest settlement in Bridgeview occurred in the ...

on Sunday, March 4.

Competition format

Major League Rugby spans five months from March through to August. 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 In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

. It operates as a single entity similar to

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

and other

major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada The major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada commonly refer to the highest men's professional competitions of team sports in those countries. The four leagues traditionally included in the definition are Major League Bas ...

, with each team or "franchise" owned by the league and the franchise operators owning a share of the league. On September 22, 2020, the MLR announced the 2021 season (fourth season) would start with matches on March 20, 2021, and continue for 18 weeks. Twelve teams across North America competed to make the MLR playoffs. At the end of the regular season, the playoffs were played over two weeks of the Eastern Conference and Western Conference finals with the Championship Final be held on August 1, 2021. Training camps for all MLR teams began on February 15, 2021. There were a variety of pre-season activities in each market as well as national media day where each team provided national and international media access to standout players.

Teams

Map

2023 teams

The twelve teams competing in the 2023 Major League Rugby season are divided into two conferences. The twelfth team,

, was announced to be joining the Western Conference on November 17, 2022.

Timeline

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:25 Period = from:2018 till:2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:200 left:0 bottom:55 top:5 Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:current value:skyblue legend:Current_Teams id:previous value:powderblue legend:Previous_Name id:former value:pink legend:Former_Teams id:future value:rgb(0.8,0.8,0.8) legend:Future_Expansion PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s 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: 12/10/2021 bar:1 color:black fontsize:M from:12/20/2021 till:01/01/2022 text: Expand to 13 teams bar:1 color:white fontsize:M from:01/15/2022 till: 12/10/2022 bar:1 color:black fontsize:M from:12/20/2022 till:01/01/2023 text: Contract to 12 teams bar:1 color:white fontsize:M from:01/15/2023 till:12/10/2023 bar:2 color:previous fontsize:M from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2019 text:

(2018–2019) bar:2 color:former fontsize:M from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2022 text:

(2020–2022) bar:3 color:previous fontsize:M from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2019 text: Glendale Raptors (2018–2019) bar:3 color:former fontsize:M from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text: Colorado Raptors (2020) bar:4 color:current fontsize:M from:01/01/2018 till:end text:

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 f ...

(2018–present) bar:5 color:current fontsize:M from:01/01/2018 till:end text:

(2018–present) bar:6 color:current fontsize:M from:01/01/2018 till:end text: Seattle Seawolves (2018–present) bar:7 color:current fontsize:M from:01/01/2018 till:end text:

(2018–present) bar:8 color:current fontsize:M from:01/01/2018 till:end text: NOLA Gold (2018–present) bar:9 color:previous fontsize:M from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2021 text:

Rugby United NY 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 ...

(2019–2021) bar:9 color:previous fontsize:M from:01/01/2022 till:end text:

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 ...

(2022–present) bar:10 color:current fontsize:M from:01/01/2019 till:end text:

(2019–present) bar:11 color:current fontsize:M from:01/01/2020 till:end text:

(2020–present) bar:12 color:current fontsize:M from:01/01/2020 till:end text:

(2020–present) bar:13 color:current fontsize:M from:01/01/2020 till:end text:

(2020–present) bar:14 color:former fontsize:M from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2022 text:

(2021–2022) bar:15 color:current fontsize:M from:01/01/2022 till:end text:

(2022–present) bar:16 color:future fontsize:M from:01/01/2023 till:end text:

(2023–present) legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:2018

Expansion teams

The expansion franchise fee is US$4 million as of 2019. The first 2021 expansion team was based in

, which was later named the

, but postponed their inaugural season to 2022. The Dallas Jackals will be competing in the Western Conference. It has also been rumored in February 2022 that a new expansion team may be added in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

in the near future, with trademarks for a "St. Louis Knights" being filed, but the league has yet to say whether or not this is a possibility.

Expansion candidates

In July 2018, an ownership group in

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 Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, announced intentions to add a team to MLR for the 2019 season, but also never went further.

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, which previously had a team in

PRO Rugby Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retire ...

, nearly became home to a relocated Austin Herd in the 2020 season. The owner of the

HFX Wanderers FC HFX Wanderers Football Club, commonly known as HFX Wanderers, and spoken as Halifax Wanderers, is a Canadian professional soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League at the top of the Canadian soccer l ...

soccer team also stated he had been in talks with the league for an expansion team. In December 2019, former

RC Toulon R&C, RC, R/C, Rc, or rc may refer to: Science and technology Computing * rc, the default Command line interface in Version 10 Unix and Plan 9 from Bell Labs * .rc (for "run commands"), a filename extension for configuration files in UNIX-like ...

majority owner

Mourad Boudjellal Mourad Boudjellal (born 5 June 1960) is a French businessman, founder of Soleil Productions comic publishing and sport manager. He was born on 5 June 1960 in Ollioules, near Toulon, on the French Riviera. Presidency of Toulonnais In 2006, Bou ...

apparently discussed making a bid for a team in Miami. MLR had confirmed that a team from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

was being considered for 2021, but negotiations expired. In July 2020, Commissioner George Killebrew said it is possible a team in Chicago will enter the league in 2023. This was confirmed when the 2023 schedule was released on November 15, 2022. The

Mexican Rugby Federation The Mexican Rugby Federation ( es, Federación Mexicana de Rugby, FMR or FMRU) is the governing body for rugby union in Mexico. The FMRU organizes rugby in the country: a championship takes place at the highest level in the country, and in the sa ...

is exploring adding an MLR team.

Former teams

On April 9, 2020, the Colorado Raptors announced that they would withdraw from Major League Rugby after three seasons in the league, effective May 2, 2020,Petersen, Will, "Updated: Colorado Raptors withdraw from Major League Rugby," 9news.com, April 10, 2020 Accessed March 27, 2021
/ref> the first team to do so. Their announcement explained their withdrawal by saying that "our greater responsibility lies in the development of American players who can win the World Cup for the

." Asked to explain how withdrawing from the league would help to develop American rugby players, the Raptors referred the question to Glendale

City Manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...

Linda Cassaday, who said on April 10, 2020, that MLR had been founded with a core mission of developing American rugby players and originally had limited teams to three foreign players, although this expanded to five players before the first season began in 2018. MLR had expanded from seven teams in 2018 to 12 in 2020 without having enough American players to fill out rosters and had raised the ceiling on foreign players to 10 per team. The Raptors believed that both this overall number of foreign players and the higher proportion of foreign to American players no longer best served the goal of developing American players who could compete successfully in the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

, and therefore chose to withdraw from the league to better focus their efforts on the development of American players who could compete on an international stage. On October 25, 2022, Major League Rugby announced that 12 teams would compete in the 2023 season, but that neither the

, nor the

will participate. With the uncertainties surrounding Austin and Los Angeles' team ownership, it was determined to suspend operations of the two teams to ensure a successful 2023 season, and protect the long-term strength and continued growth of the league.

MLR rivalry cups

In Major League Rugby, several teams annually compete for secondary rivalry cups. Most cups are deliberately conceived as local derbies between teams in the same region.

Summary

Each win is counted as an official title. Only official MLR games are considered as official rivalry games unless an exhibition game is specifically marked as a Rivalry game. Several teams now participating in cups played matches before the creation of the cups.

Champions

By year

By team

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 ;MLR championship

Television coverage

For the 2022 season, MLR and

FOX Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

have partnered up once again to broadcast the matches. MLR Commissioner George Killebrew said, "Having FOX Sports involved as the national television broadcaster for Major League Rugby this season is an amazing opportunity for the league. FOX Sports' reach and audience will not only bring our fans the rugby coverage they expect but also introduce our sport to entirely new rugby fans." Major League Rugby programming runs in prime weekend time slots on Saturday afternoons and Sunday evenings. The

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 Dan Power (born 6 January 1983) is an Australian-born American former rugby union player for the United States national rugby union team and current Rugby commentator. Playing career Power was born in Brisbane, Australia. He attended Iona C ...

(Play By Play), Brian Hightower (Color Analyst) and Stacy Paetz (Sideline) were the

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

commentators for the 2019 season. The remaining games are available on ESPN properties and

regional sports network In the United States and Canada, a regional sports network (RSN) is a cable television channel (many of which are also distributed on direct broadcast satellite services) that presents sports programming to a local market or geographical region. ...

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

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 ROOT SPORTS Northwest (stylized as ROOT SPORTS Northwest) is an American regional sports network owned as a 60/40 joint venture between the Seattle Mariners and Warner Bros. Discovery respectively, the latter of which operates it through its spo ...

and all Colorado and Utah games are hosted on

AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain is an American regional sports network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit as part of the AT&T SportsNet brand of networks, and is an affiliate of Bally Sports. Headquartered in Denver, Colorad ...

. 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

being televised locally on Channel 4

YurView California YurView California (formerly known as 4SD, Channel 4 San Diego or unofficially COX 4, and originally known as KCOX) is an American cable television channel serving San Diego, California, owned by Cox Communications, which carries the channel pr ...

. Austin Elite Rugby partnered with

Facebook Watch Facebook Watch is a video on demand service operated by American company Meta Platforms (previously named Facebook, Inc.). The company announced the service in August 2017 and was available to all U.S. users that month. Facebook Watch's original ...

for their Texas-based viewers during the 2019 season.

announced regional television partnership with SNY, which will televise nine games of RUNY's inaugural season (2019), with the premiere game airing LIVE Sunday, January 27 at 5:00 PM EST. Also,

NBC Sports Washington NBC Sports Washington is an American regional sports network owned by Ted Leonsis's Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, the channel broadcasts reg ...

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 NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast. The networks were origina ...

expands RUNY's TV market into two key East Coast markets.

Rugby announced a television partnership with

GameTV GameTV is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment. It currently broadcasts a mixture of game shows, reality competition series, and films. The channel was first launched in 2005 under the ownership o ...

for the 2019 season. The 2019 Championship game was broadcast on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, 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. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MLR adjusted its 2020 season schedule and turned its attention to ensuring the league would rebound with a strong showing in 2021. League and team officials have been "diligently working to build strong rosters and enhance the fan experience" for the season. Matches were televised on

and

Fox Sports 2 Fox Sports 2 (FS2) is an American sports-oriented pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. The channel is based at the Fox Sports division's headquarters on the Fox Studio Lot in the Century Cit ...

, among other national and local market platforms. The MLR Championship was broadcast on

on Sunday, August 1, 2021.

Finals TV ratings

Streaming

On March 16, 2021, MLR launched

The Rugby Network ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

/ RugbyPass, a free streaming platform in conjunction with RugbyPass which will stream all MLR content, including matches and highlights. This digital network is the first of its kind in North America, providing rugby fans with a single destination for all their rugby needs. It includes live streaming of select MLR matches, international rugby matches, game highlights, and exclusive behind-the-scenes content.

MLR App

On March 17, 2021, MLR launched its official mobile app. This fan oriented app is where MLR fans come together for breaking MLR news, schedules, match scores, team profiles, statistics, and exclusive video content. The app is part of a multi-platform deal with digital sport innovators

PT SportSuite PT, Pt, or pt may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''P.T.'' (video game), acronym for ''Playable Teaser'', a short video game released to promote the cancelled video game ''Silent Hills'' * Porcupine Tree, a British progressive rock group ...

who transforms all MLR's digital media capabilities. The MLR app is available to download on iPhone

App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...

and Android

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android (operating sys ...

Attendance

Top attendances for Major League Rugby games (all time, from 2018 onward): Attendance for the inaugural season was approximately 1,800 per match. That average increased by about 300 per game in 2019 with an average of 2,133 per game and a total of 159,000 attendees. George Killebrew reported that in 2022 an additional 70,000 tickets were sold compared to the 2021 season, with crowd averages remaining around 2,000 per game.

Executives

Commissioner * George Killebrew (2019–present) *

Dean Howes Dean L. Howes Jr. (born October 7, 1952) is an American businessman in the field of sports management. He was the first commissioner of Major League Rugby which began its inaugural season in 2018. A former partner in SCP Worldwide, Howes was p ...

(2016–2019) Deputy Commissioner * Nic Benson (2016–present)

Sponsorship

The league signed a multi-year partnership deal with

XBlades XBlades is an Australian sports equipment manufacturing company engaged in the design, development and selling of products primarily related to footwear and clothing. The company was established in 1989 to make shoes for athletes who played rugb ...

in 2017 to supply all jersey/ kit apparel for each MLR team and all match officials. MLR also announced Ram Rugby as the official ball supplier. In May 2018, via

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, MLR announced Impact Custom Mouth Guards as the official mouth guard of the league. The Gem Garden in San Marcos, California, makes all MLR Championship rings. 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 A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

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 (CRC) the past several years In March 2021,

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

became MLR's official airline and travel partner. Also for 2021,

The Rugby Shop ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

became the official merchandising partner of the MLR. They developed an online MLR apparel shop for fans.

References

Explanatory notes

Citations

External links

Official website
{{Top sport leagues in the United States Professional sports leagues in the United States Professional sports leagues in Canada Rugby union leagues in Canada Rugby union leagues in the United States 2017 establishments in the United States Sports leagues established in 2017 Multi-national professional rugby union leagues Multi-national professional sports leagues