New professional rugby league for 2018

[JDSmith]

Some people are trying again to get a pro rugby league going in the states, they are calling it Major League Rugby. Right now there are 7 teams, all in the south and west. There are 2 teams in Texas, none on the east coast, so I'll be rooting for the Houston Sabercats based solely on their uniforms. I hate the striped uniforms, so those are out, and the Sabercats kit looks similar to the Hurricanes (my Super Rugby team). They are starting exhibition games this month, the real season starts in April.

https://www.usmlr.com

One of the members here was checking out prices for the upcoming exhibition game in Houston and she said it was like $70 for a ticket. I'm a bit disappointed in that kind of pricing for the exhibition games. IMO they should be charging the absolute minimum they can get away with just to try to generate interest and get some people rooting for the team.

 

[csirl]

Is there enough interest?

Even in Europe pro rugby has started to get stale - not attracting the same level of interest as in the Heineken Cup days in the noughties.

 

[JDSmith]

Is there enough interest?

Even in Europe pro rugby has started to get stale - not attracting the same level of interest as in the Heineken Cup days in the noughties.

I'm not sure. That's why I thought it would be best for them to make the exhibition games as close to free as possible. They need to get people there to try and generate the interest and create a fanbase of people who want to spend money on the team.

 

[Terrancemcclain]

I hope it flourishes. I heard rugby has been gaining popularity in america.who knows .it might rival the nfl someday

 

[DcFootball4]

I hope it flourishes. I heard rugby has been gaining popularity in america.who knows .it might rival the nfl someday

What they need imo, is to bring Rugby 7s which is much more fast paced. I have never fully understood the rules, but have always enjoyed watching the guys go at it. I then watched the Rugby 7s during the Olympics and my gosh that was really enjoyable to watch! I do wish it was a bit longer though.

 

[DcFootball4]

I would without a doubt watch though if we got a league here in the US that we could follow.

 

[Londonboy]

Is there enough interest?

Even in Europe pro rugby has started to get stale - not attracting the same level of interest as in the Heineken Cup days in the noughties.

I don't know what You're saying this for.
European domestic Rugby attendances are at an all-time high.
In the final round of European Cup group phase matches, virtually every match was sold out, even when the home team was already eliminated.

 

[JDSmith]

What they need imo, is to bring Rugby 7s which is much more fast paced. I have never fully understood the rules, but have always enjoyed watching the guys go at it. I then watched the Rugby 7s during the Olympics and my gosh that was really enjoyable to watch! I do wish it was a bit longer though.

The problem, as you alluded to, is the length. When each half is only 7 minutes of play, and barely takes longer than that to play, they need to schedule multiple games in an afternoon for the fans. Nobody is going to pay to watch a game that's finished before they are comfortable in their seats. And no venue is going to schedule games that don't even allow people time to finish a $12 beer.

There is also a 10's game. And Rugby league is 13 players a side. So Union, which is the big international game, is the slowest paced with 15 guys on a side. From there every step down pretty much plays a little faster because there is more room. League has a lot of other different rules than Union, but it's played on more or less the same sized pitch (not sure of the exact dimensions) and a lot of the changes in rules are to speed up the game.

So if you want something a little faster paced you might want to check out Rugby League, as someone else mentioned in this thread. They get 6 phases with the ball before the other team takes over (they'll generally just punt it away after 5 phases), they play with 13 guys on a side, they don't contest for the ball after each tackle, no real scrums etc... - so it's all a bit cleaner. I know that in terms of time where the ball is actually in play League rules. In an 80 minute match I believe the ball is in play for something like 50 minutes in league, compared to 35 minutes in Union (and in a 60 minute NFL game, 11 minutes).

 

[Londonboy]

The problem, as you alluded to, is the length. When each half is only 7 minutes of play, and barely takes longer than that to play, they need to schedule multiple games in an afternoon for the fans. Nobody is going to pay to watch a game that's finished before they are comfortable in their seats. And no venue is going to schedule games that don't even allow people time to finish a $12 beer.

There is also a 10's game. And Rugby league is 13 players a side. So Union, which is the big international game, is the slowest paced with 15 guys on a side. From there every step down pretty much plays a little faster because there is more room. League has a lot of other different rules than Union, but it's played on more or less the same sized pitch (not sure of the exact dimensions) and a lot of the changes in rules are to speed up the game.

So if you want something a little faster paced you might want to check out Rugby League, as someone else mentioned in this thread. They get 6 phases with the ball before the other team takes over (they'll generally just punt it away after 5 phases), they play with 13 guys on a side, they don't contest for the ball after each tackle, no real scrums etc... - so it's all a bit cleaner. I know that in terms of time where the ball is actually in play League rules. In an 80 minute match I believe the ball is in play for something like 50 minutes in league, compared to 35 minutes in Union (and in a 60 minute NFL game, 11 minutes).

7's is done on a tournament format, either spread over 1, 2, or 3 days depending on the number of teams participating, You get an entire day of Rugby for a reasonable price, the HSBC World 7's series (a global league for National 7's teams) will be visiting the U.S.A (I think it's in Vegas, but I'm not sure) later in the year.

 

[JDSmith]

7's is done on a tournament format, either spread over 1, 2, or 3 days depending on the number of teams participating, You get an entire day of Rugby for a reasonable price, the HSBC World 7's series (a global league for National 7's teams) will be visiting the U.S.A (I think it's in Vegas, but I'm not sure) later in the year.

I know, I was just thinking in terms of league play if someone wanted to organize something that people can attend weekly. In general fans are going to want to root for their team, and when their team is only on the field for 14 minutes that's a tough sell week in and week out.

 

[Londonboy]

I know, I was just thinking in terms of league play if someone wanted to organize something that people can attend weekly. In general fans are going to want to root for their team, and when their team is only on the field for 14 minutes that's a tough sell week in and week out.

Yeah, the only way You could work it would be an 8 team 7's League, or perhaps several Regional Leagues with each team hosting a tournament once or twice, You could even have Regional Champs competing for the National Crown.
I've never heard of a club league for 7's in any Country, 7's is generally traditionally played as a pre-season or after season tournament, since the U.S.A has no ingrained structures or traditions, it's conceivable that They could try something new, if You promote it as a full day of sporting entertainment for all the Family, at a fraction of the cost of an NFL game, it might just gain some popularity.
The fact that Team 7's U.S.A is competitive and sometimes victorious on the World stage and has an exciting Superstar like Perry Baker (the current World 7's Player of the Year) doesn't hurt marketing potential either.

 

[csirl]

And Rugby league is 13 players a side. So Union, which is the big international game, is the slowest paced with 15 guys on a side. From there every step down pretty much plays a little faster because there is more room. League has a lot of other different rules than Union, but it's played on more or less the same sized pitch (not sure of the exact dimensions) and a lot of the changes in rules are to speed up the game.

So if you want something a little faster paced you might want to check out Rugby League, as someone else mentioned in this thread. They get 6 phases with the ball before the other team takes over (they'll generally just punt it away after 5 phases), they play with 13 guys on a side, they don't contest for the ball after each tackle, no real scrums etc... - so it's all a bit cleaner. I know that in terms of time where the ball is actually in play League rules. In an 80 minute match I believe the ball is in play for something like 50 minutes in league, compared to 35 minutes.

League is very like the game football was in the 1860s/70s - before the Walter Camp era. Mostly ball carrying and tackling. A number of downs to progess the ball or else you have to kick it away etc.

 

[Sarek]

I may have to start watching rugby and pick a favorite team soon.

 

[Corso]

I may have to start watching rugby and pick a favorite team soon.

I've been an All Blacks fan for years. Love rugby.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Some people are trying again to get a pro rugby league going in the states, they are calling it Major League Rugby. Right now there are 7 teams, all in the south and west. There are 2 teams in Texas, none on the east coast, so I'll be rooting for the Houston Sabercats based solely on their uniforms. I hate the striped uniforms, so those are out, and the Sabercats kit looks similar to the Hurricanes (my Super Rugby team). They are starting exhibition games this month, the real season starts in April.

https://www.usmlr.com

One of the members here was checking out prices for the upcoming exhibition game in Houston and she said it was like $70 for a ticket. I'm a bit disappointed in that kind of pricing for the exhibition games. IMO they should be charging the absolute minimum they can get away with just to try to generate interest and get some people rooting for the team.

I'm certainly glad that rugby has made it to this side of the pond. It's a fun sport to watch.

 

[Corso]

Some people are trying again to get a pro rugby league going in the states, they are calling it Major League Rugby. Right now there are 7 teams, all in the south and west. There are 2 teams in Texas, none on the east coast, so I'll be rooting for the Houston Sabercats based solely on their uniforms. I hate the striped uniforms, so those are out, and the Sabercats kit looks similar to the Hurricanes (my Super Rugby team). They are starting exhibition games this month, the real season starts in April.

https://www.usmlr.com

One of the members here was checking out prices for the upcoming exhibition game in Houston and she said it was like $70 for a ticket. I'm a bit disappointed in that kind of pricing for the exhibition games. IMO they should be charging the absolute minimum they can get away with just to try to generate interest and get some people rooting for the team.

The Hurricanes are fun to watch. All Blacks are going to play England in Denver in June! Vacay time...


Edit: Haka!

 

[JDSmith]

The Hurricanes are fun to watch. All Blacks are going to play England in Denver in June! Vacay time...


Edit: Haka!

Hurricanes haven't looked good yet this year. They are 1 - 1 with a bonus point in each game, but they haven't looked sharp at all. Way too many handling errors. Some of it is undoubtedly because of the fact that they have been WAY on the road for the first 2 games, playing in South Africa and then in Argentina. I'll be interested to see how they play next week back at home.


Don't book that vacation yet, the game in Denver is the Kiwis - the NZ Rugby League team. I'd still go anyway (if I could). Even though it's League, looks like it will be a fun game. And there will be a haka.

 

[JDSmith]

If they are televising the MLR games I really hope they follow the rugby tradition of having the refs miced up. The level of transparency with the refs in rugby is awesome. When they go to the TMO (television match official) for verdicts on replays you get to hear the conversation, you also hear the refs interactions with players all through the game. And because rugby is so free flowing there is a lot of interaction - refs are constantly giving guys instructions on whether they are allowed to play the ball, if it appears they are stalling and about a million other things.

Captains in rugby are also a lot more than a figurehead like they are in football. When guys start getting out of line, or if guys are about to be yellow or red carded, the ref always calls the captain over first. Sometimes it's just to tell the captain that his guys are crossing the line and to get them under control - the captain is there to actively discipline his side and keep them in the refs good graces. And because the ref has a live mic you hear all of that throughout the game. I don't always agree with the refs decisions, but they get them right an unbelievable amount of the time and the transparency is fantastic.

Really, the refs in rugby are what the refs in football should be, they are all fit and really great at their jobs. They are obviously full time refs because they travel the world for these matches. And they rotate - the guy who might be the ref this week could be the TMO next week, or a line judge. So everyone knows what they are doing and they are all on the same page. Really, when I watch games on tv there are multiple times per game when the ref makes a call during live play and I have no idea how he saw it until I catch the slow motion replay.

Edit: Except the French refs. They suck.

 

[JDSmith]

Major League Rugby officially kicks off this weekend. I know there is some deal with CBS to televise games on one of their stations, but I don't have TV so I don't know the specifics. I do know that 18 games this season will be shown on the ESPN+ app, so that's how I'll be watching for the most part. Looking forward to seeing some American rugby, I'll be rooting for the Houston Sabercats - it should be interesting.

 

[JDSmith]

So I watched the Houston Sabercats vs NOLA Gold on ESPN+ yesterday. The Gold won an upset in front of what looked like a pretty small crowd, here are my thoughts in general about the product and Sabercats overall:

They need to work on the camera angles. The camermen were too focused on getting in tight, and frequently from ground level. I assume they are trying to bring the game closer, but they're severely limiting the ability to see anything beyond the ball. It takes away from the flow of the game because you can't see guys out wide and running lines etc... so it makes it look kind of like a bunch of little kids in their first soccer game - just a mass of bodies around the ball. Also, on at least one of the kick attempts they never showed the goal posts even once - they were focused in close on the kicker, but you couldn't even tell where he was on the field (kicks can be taken from either sideline all the way across the field) and they never zoomed out or switched the camera so the only way to tell if it even went through was to look at the score.

The venues could be a problem if they want to attract fans. I saw a pretty subdued crowd there - part of it was probably because of the weather, it looked cool and drizzly. But it was probably also because the game was held at a high school stadium so there was no alcohol allowed. They are limited because they need grass fields, and I know that the Sabercats are having their own 3500 seat field being built, but that won't be until next year. Hopefully the owners are not expecting a big turnout in the meantime, because I have a feeling that playing where the fans can't drink is going to put off quite a few potential customers.

They had a French ref. In general I don't like them because they are too quick with the whistle IMO and way too quick to yellow or red card people - but that might be because of their recent history of screwing the All Blacks vs the English and Irish Lions. However in this case I thought it was a great decision, it was clearly not the ref's first rodeo. It was good to have someone who was both clear when instructing the players and not afraid to exercise his authority. At one point he even gave the Sabercats a 10 meter penalty when one of the players was getting a little lippy questioning a call. It's funny because I was just on youtube the other day discussing that penalty because someone posted how it's basically disappeared from the top level rugby, and I said that in a year and a half I had never even seen it given and didn't know it's a rule. Clearly this particular ref wasn't afraid to throw it out there, and I think that's a good thing. The ref needs to be the guy in charge and the players can't start thinking they can question him excessively - if there is a question about a penalty the captain should probably be asking it, and respectfully. Arguing with the ref is never a smart move, and it's become a little more prevalent in rugby lately. I was glad to see this ref nipping that in the bud.

The Sabercats need to work on their scrummaging and seem weak at the hooker position in particular. Their hooker didn't strike at the ball in the scrum, it was more of a weak pawing motion. He also sucked at throwing in the lineouts. So basically the guy looked like a converted prop or something to me, he lacked the skills that define the hooker position. And that goes for both of the guys who played the position. I'll have to re-watch to see how much difference there was between the starter and his replacement, but they didn't look strong at the scrum at any point in the game. I was actually kind of surprised about that because their coach played as a prop in Irish rugby. I'd expect that to be a strong part of their game.

Overall I thought it was ok. For the first day ever for the league and team I'd say it was fine. It's tough because I watch primarily New Zealand rugby, both Super Rugby and the Mitre 10 Cup, and they have the production down to a science and obviously have outstanding skill levels from grade school on up to professional. So this product needs to be graded on a curve IMO.