The Growth of Major League Rugby

G'day guys,

Today we dive into a new type of video looking at Major League Rugby and the growth of the competition over the last few years.

0:00 - 14:48 : MLR and Teams
1:48 - 7:01 : Attendance
7:01 - 8:12 : Broadcasting
8:12 - 9:06 : International Players
9:06 - 10:15 : World Rugby Funding and 2031 USA RWC
10:15 - 12:18 : General Thoughts

#rugby #rugbyunion #rugbyleague #MLR #mlrugby #majorleaguerugby #majorleague #ncaa #ncaafootball #allblacks #springboks

[sammyx]

Let me know your thoughts down below on MLR!

Do you think it can be successful? Will it be one of the biggest Rugby leagues in the world? Will it ever compete with the likes of NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB?

Timings:

0:00 - 14:48 : MLR and Teams
1:48 - 7:01 : Attendance
7:01 - 8:12 : Broadcasting
8:12 - 9:06 : International Players
9:06 - 10:15 : World Rugby Funding and 2031 USA RWC
10:15 - 12:18 : General Thoughts

[markgrant]

Good competiton with good fan support for some teams...Hoping Arrows find new backers in the Future.

[CrashBallTV]

I have watched a few MLR games, standard was decent, and enjoyed all the games I watched. I do plan to watch more too. A friend of mine actually plays for Miami Sharks

[Celta]

MLR doesn’t need to join the North American Big 4, it just needs to be self sustaining. A 40 man squad making an average of 50k a year in 20k stadiums is the dream, at least for right now. Championship TV ratings have slipped a bit, but I think that’s not as big of an issue as one might think. The novelty has worn off, so MLR has lost a lot of casual fans who watched because it was new and different, but they’ve also gained a lot of new rugby fans who watch for the sake of rugby, and that’s the base who’s going to spend on tickets and merch and drive the league’s success. There’s a solid fan base that’s being built before the 2031 RWC, which could be the catalyst for rugby getting mainstream popularity

[BrwnCh]

Great to see attendance growing. Just need the USA 15s side make the RWC. I wanna see Canada do well also. Crazy how far they have fallen since 2019

[AHomelessShoe]

The two ways I see MLR growing the game here are:

1. If they can get ti a level of stability where no teams are dying.

2. If they can grow enough to where a lower league/leagues can form under them. The US is big, and having a team closer goes a big way to make people fans.

[WinterWeaver]

I consistently watch the USMLR highlights every week, every season (cannot watch full matches where I'm at). I have noticed a clear increase in support and crowds showing up for games. It's great and I really want to see USA put a lot more money into Rugby, because they have a pool of athletes with potential to be field good international teams.

[mhanson]

MLR is managing it's development well.
I look forward to the day that it can attract some of the world's best players

[usarugbyleagueunionfan]

Great vid. I’m a season seat holder for RFCLA. I love MLR. It’s not as technical yet that makes it more fun to watch. Running Rugby.

[BearsGamer]

Great video mate. I would love to see more in this sort of style. Selfishly i would love rugby in America to take off because then we'd have more of a chance of a BIG game developer looking at rugby. MLR is decent even if the team i followed (NY) went bust 😢

[User-ub]

Love all the stats mate, great insight! I agree with you, I don't think it needs to try to compete with NFL etc. With the population size they have, even a small share of their domestic market will top that in almost every other rugby playing nation. Looking forward to the next one!

[ehtx]

Houston SaberCats has the only rugby- specific stadium in the league. It only seats 4000 people, but there are at least there are another thousand that are in the standing area. It's definitely on the rise!

[jimfletcher]

Great video. Really enjoyed it and so good to see a focus on a competition that hardly ever gets talked about. Look forward to the next video. How about something on Super Rugby Americas?

[Coffeeking]

Great research and insight. Felt like you were talking as someone who is a die-hard fan. Great presentation of a lot of great information. Grouped really well as to not overload the viewer with new information.

Really great. You’ve got yourself a new subscriber 👍🏻

[Eurynomos]

Heaps of fun to watch and free to watch world wide.

[WILTHEWOLF]

I hope rugby gets more popular in the states, and that they expand in Idaho I have a few ideas for a name

[guyfaux]

MLS was smart to build 20K seaters-- I could see MLR drawing such crowds eventually, and since MLS teams DO need to play games on the road, what better use for the park, if the MLS/NWSL/UFL team playing there (like at Audi Field, for example) isn't in Washington on a given Saturday/Sunday, than to have Old Glory play there?

[ciaranbrk]

In regards to the URC crowds A lot of Welsh regions don’t get support because they used to be different teams folded into regions that don’t make sense.

[henrilannevere]

Bravo pour votre travail mais en France l assistance moyenne du Top 14 est de 20 000 spectateurs pour les matchs de poules et de 70 000 pour les phases finales...
Vivement que le rugby 🏉 devienne important dans le cœur ❤ des Usa.

[rowan_]

Nice video. But maybe don’t compare highest to averages cos premierships highest is 82, 000. The average attendance this season in the MLR has been 2, 686 so is not comparable to the other major leagues. It’s closest comparison would be the Italian URC teams. But I think that it can grow, America is often referred to as a sleeping giant of rugby and if they create a large scale program to train american football players as rugby players could be massive. They also need to build the collage game to have talent to draw from