- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Monday April 18th, 2016 at around 5:00am AEST. Mark this day and time as it corresponds with the kick off of the first game in ProRugby’s relatively short yet eventful history.
After only publicly announcing their intention of launching the United States’ first professional rugby league last October, this the culmination of over 18 months of planning and effort with Denver hosting Ohio at Infinity Park, Glendale.
This game will be closely followed by its second match were Sacramento will host San Francisco at Bonney Field in the first ever Northern California derby.
For those not aware ProRugby emerged last October after around 12 months of rumour and whispers to announce the much thought of lofty intent to launch a professional rugby league in a relatively short six-month time frame.
Initial plans called for six teams in its inaugural season but due to issues with either availability or compliance to World Rugby’s field specification requirements the sixth franchise to originally be located in either New York or Philadelphia was set aside for season two when most of the above issues would be resolved.
Thanks to this, ProRugby’s first season will see a five-team league with San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Denver and Ohio being selected as the inaugural franchises set to launch the league.
Each team will play a 12-game schedule (so yes, they’ll become quite familiar with one another) with what looks like a first past the post set up being most likely for season one. ProRugby has already stated on several occasions that the league will in effect double in size for season two and some sort of finals series seems likely then.
After much speculation ProRugby have been able to draw together not only five squads of domestic players and coaches but also draw in some surprising names from overseas for the leagues first season. Most notably Mils Muliana who will be running out for San Francisco this season.
Interestingly, ProRugby has opted for a heavily social media weighted marketing campaign as a means of driving interest in the league which appears to have returned promising early results.
Part of this strategy has also involved the opportunity for a fan to become their elected teams social media ambassador giving them unparalleled access to their team in an attempt to create a link between them and the fan-base.
Additionally, ProRugby will be launching competitions to both develop team names and brands throughout the season as a means of enhancing the fan engagement angle.
There’s a lot more to discuss so feel free to comment below. If you find yourself interested in viewing these games internationally AOL.com will be hosting the leagues web stream and if you happen to be in the States one game a week will feature on the One World Sports cable channel.
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.