Sometimes when it rains it pours. This appears to be the case for professional rugby in the United States.
Three weeks ago I provided a brief update leading into the inaugural season of PRO Rugby. Featuring teams from San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Denver and Ohio. As a dedicated rugby fan I’ve tuned into the leagues stream via their aol.com feed each week and can happily say, so far, so good. The games have been very entertaining and played at a standard well beyond anything ever seen domestically in the States.
The crowds have been good. They are better than was expected which is encouraging considering that this season is in fact PRO Rugby’s beta test.
As an outsider who has been watching the development of the game and its progression toward professionalism the the country for a decade it has been wonderful to see that finally, the game has taken the leap and the signs are promising. But, it’s about to get a little more interesting.
Several weeks ago the Austin Huns RFC announced ambitious plans to launch a professional squad in the near future. Those same plans also included the development of a 34 acre rugby specific facility that will include a 10,000 stadium. This will be all owned and run by the club themselves.
The Huns will look to join Griffins Rugby from Allen, TX near Dallas who have been transitioning toward professionalism for several years now with a number of their current squad being full timers at present.
Furthermore, only a fortnight after this announcement more news of the Huns signing not only former Eagles captain Todd Clever as the clubs ambassador but of a partnership with Racing Metro 92 emerged. This provided more weight to the story.
Now, it appears the Huns announcement was merely the vanguard to the emergence of a second professional league in the USA. A more regional based one based around the preexisting Red River Conference (South-West). According to an article on rugbywrapup.com the Huns and Griffins will likely be joined by a team from Houston, New Orleans, another Austin team in the Austin Blacks and possibly one from Oklahoma City.
Additionally, the group behind this push have had conversations with other teams from further afield. Which could potentially make things interesting.
While the emergence of a competitor may make some feel a little nervous it is essentially the American way. Multiple entities fighting it out until one united league emerges with the strongest teams as members.
As both competitions will essentially run during differing windows it may be possible to see players popping up in both. The real question will be whether this spurs the likes of the Glendale Raptors, Seattle Saracens, San Francisco Golden Gate, New York Old Blue etc. into action.
Considering these will be the clubs both leagues will be looking to draw from it really be a question of whether they look to transition their own regional leagues into professional entities creating a situation where there could be several professional leagues or they choose to join the Huns and form their own league based around clubs.
In regards to PRO you would have to imagine the emergence of several regional professional leagues based in the USA’s fall would be preferred as it would form a strong base in which to draw from to feed their competition that is played in the spring/summer.
Interesting times. There is hopefully more to come for rugby in the United States.
Rarofra
Guest
Just came here as a brazilian to remark that basketball is at best the 4th league in importance in Brazil, behind football, volleyball and futsal.
Chris
Guest
Always thought Canada was wasted with the CFL and would of loved it if they had stayed with Rugby Union or even going to Rugby League as they have the right size population to be competitive against in World Rugby and it would been a great place for touring teams like the All Blacks, Springboks, Lions and Wallabies. USA Im not that bothered as there population is to big and would had to see them as unbeaten force in Rugby.
Peter Evans
Roar Rookie
Correct Ned. Who has the money? I've been around this scene for 25yrs and there is no hope of getting money for something that can't get on TV let alone get a crowd. I've met most of the money men here in Houston and they have never given any money to rugby before. The Huns deal is a property play at best.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
They've chosen the leagues window for a number of reasons such as weather (the league has mandated an open and flowing style), competition (in terms of contact sports, relatively little) and an attempt not to impact upon the local club scene in terms of acquiring talent any more than it already has to.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
Another little tidbit. The Brazilian national team have been receiving a lot more attention redently. They have had their last two tests broadcast on national FTA TV with pleasing results. Both games have managed to outrate the NBB (Brazil's National Basketball League) the second by nearly a factor of 2. What makes this interesting is that after Soccer, Basketball is the second most significant sports league in the country. There's also early chatter about the establishment of a professional league in the country as well.
dru
Roar Rookie
BTW, thanks for keeping us posted on the Americas. Fascinating stuff. :-)
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Yes that makes sense. Although while that would make 6 U.S. teams, given the relative strength there's not reason there couldn't be 6 Canadian teams from the start. From there it could proceed adding equal numbers of extra teams from each country. There would be no obvious reason to start with few Canadian teams.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Yes, but if they were played at different time the question wouldn't even arise of how they would be integrated. Then there is no issue of integration or any clash at all. One takes place at one time of year, the other at another. Like the Mitre 10 Cup in New Zealand doesn't clash with Super rugby.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
Well, there will likely be Canadians spread across the other teams as well. I also don't the will be able to get 10 team for next season. Nor should they. I think another US squad and two Canadian squads would work best for now. Build quality first then grow.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
On the contrary. I've always liked the idea of integrating the Americas into SR and beyond. I just don't see the guy behind this league wanting to join SR if he thinks PRO is sustainable. I could be wrong. We could have a situation in 5 years where we have PRO integrating into SR forming the basis of two new conferences. Add in the Jaguares and another Argentine franchise and things could look a lot different. Who knows.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
WCR you haven't seemed keen on the idea of U.S. or Canadian teams in Super rugby. However SANZAAR have made it quite clear that is their intention so it will happen. The question then is how it would relate to the established professional leagues. My bet is that the current leagues could continue, but would shift to start later in the year so as not to clash with Super rugby. The two are probably not incompatible.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
WCR sure, but given the strength it is odd only to have 2. If the U.S. has 8 let's say Canada could produce 8 too or certainly a lot more than 2. It seems very peculiar indeed. You could have a much larger market immediately.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
In there original plans they wanted 5 US based squads and one Canadian. However, RC decided to hold off a year to see if PRO would prove viable and also figure out what having Canadian sides involved means for their CRC structure. PRO have stated on several occasions that they want to go to 10 teams for its 2nd season (official launch season). To do so they will definitely need to look north and likely be pushing for 2 Canadian squads.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
I just don't think if PRO starts to gain traction that they would want to join another structure. In 5 years if all goes well they will have at least 10 teams. Enough for an independent league. Which seems the likely route they'll choose. The only way to integrate them will likely be via the RC.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Rob I'm not convinced that grassroots up is the only successful way to grow a sport. An exciting TV product can also have quite an impact, and so professional rugby can grow the game too. In any case it's decided that it will happen next year with Canadian clubs joining prorugby. My objection is that there won't be as many of them as there are U.S. clubs when given the strength of the game in Canada there should be and as they are concentrated into a few very large conurbations the whole country could get a decent coverage with as few as six or eight teams.
Rob
Guest
It's a wide-spread sport here from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland, with clubs even in rural areas. I think, however, participation rates are shrinking at the adult level (from the heights in the 90s and early 00s), but I don't hear many people asking why, let alone proposing solutions. Until that happens, I don't think it's worth focusing on professional rugby. The grassroots needs a LOT more development as one of the reasons is that average kids coming out of secondary school either are not up to, or don't feel confident enough to, compete with adult men. (Probably not dissimilar to other countries, but I've coached in England, Australia and New Zealand and the skill / knowledge level is very low by comparison.)
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
WCR I think they're missing a big trick in not having a lot more Canadian teams as that way they could have a much bigger league from the start. Incidentally it would be good to have some articles on Canadian rugby from you, especially as it's future is inevitably going to be wedded with America's.
dru
Roar Rookie
WCR, why in 5 years would it be too late for Super Rugby? Looks to me like they are doing reasonably well toward creating a new conference (or group). Super Rugby can deal with 4 conferences as easily as 3, surely.
jarijari
Guest
Hey WCR. Was astonished when you mentioned the Huns have a 34-acre complex (in the Austin metrop area, I checked that). Surely they'd need maybe only a third of that, even with two stadiums, a training ground and ample parking. They could sell off a substantial amount to finance it. Would be great to see US rugby move forward.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
I don't know about planning approval but they've already had a feasibility survey done and everything is a go from that perspective. As for the financing. They've already secured it to get the project started. I agree it's very ambitious but at least they are looking forward. The primary goal for the building of the stadium is to help pay players and the investors back. Though as above their investors aren't too bothered by needing to see returns quickly. The standard of play might not be too great at present but that's what making this move will look to address. It's not going to be easy but at least they're trying. Maybe if the game here thought like this 25 years ago it would be in a very different position than it is now.