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Professional rugby league in the USA looks set to emerge on the world stage. The World Arena Rugby (Union) Championship will be played out over two days this August at the Allen Convention Centre in Allen on the outskirts of Dallas, Texas.
Originally established as an exhibition concept in 1998, with a select team from both Los Angeles and Dallas and again in 2004, the owners of the concept Zuma Beach Entertainment will be looking at the August event to look to launch an 8 team, 12 round league in 2014 culminating in a playoff series that will feature both a semi- final and bowl game.
Based around the 7s variant of the game, Arena Rugby utilises similar dimensions to that of the Arena Football League (and varying other indoor sporting leagues in the US) which is roughly 50 metres in length by 25-35 metres wide.
The working theory behind this is to make the game more accessible to new audiences bringing the crowd closer to the action and making the nature of play more obvious and easier to understand. Another theory is that the non-stop action involved would be desirable for sports broadcasting demand from networks.
This is just another of what has been a plethora of groups looking to bring professional rugby to the USA in the past two years.
You have Grand Prix 7s, American Professional Rugby Competition (driven by Australian sports marketing group Moore Sports), North American Professional Rugby League out of Delaware, RugbyLaw out of Minnesota and now Zuma with WAR.
It’s quite a list, one that’s likely to narrow in the coming six to twelve months.
So, how likely is it that this concept of Arena Rugby will succeed in the short term?
Well, it’s reasonably good at least for one season. Arena sporting leagues already have a presence on the American sporting landscape.
Arena football has no less than seven professional leagues (the AFL being the undoubted largest) and according to reports they already have the sponsorship end covered for the event in August and the proposed league next year.
While Arena Football Leagues have tended to struggle, they all tend to suffer from their similarity to the granddaddy of all sporting leagues in the US in the NFL.
Put simply they lack a real point of difference, are too similar to the real thing and despite of their efforts and claim of being faster and higher scoring (and they tend to be) they pale in comparison to the NFL.
Arena Rugby on the other hand has the advantage of riding the surging growth of rugby, from archived footage is much faster and more physical than its competitors.
If done right, and that’s a big if, by strategically locating teams in rugby hotbeds and keeping the Arenas selected to around 5,000 seats, there is a possibility that not it could get up and running and more importantly enter a second season.
The premise behind its marketing strategy appears to providing a strong, cost effective alternative to other sources of entertainment. A high octane, thrill-a-minute, hour-long event.
Twelve man squads play 4×7 minute quarters, keeping the interest levels up for beginner supporters.
Anyway, I’m going to leave to you to decide and form an opinion.
You’ll notice they have named nine teams that will be competing this August (you’ll also notice that one of them is going by the name of the Philadelphia Fight, an American rugby league team, but I’ve been told that this event will be rugby union) which is interesting and will likely form the core of teams if the league gets up and running.
Credit to Grant Cole of Ruck Bottom for breaking the story and Thisisamericanrugby for reposting it.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.