FIRST off let me say i love the logo and the name, i am a little sketchy on the league part of the name but its growing on me. with todays news and article on bleacher report: Bleacher report : NRFL
i have some pros and cons about it all.
con: so far all efforts seemed focused on east coast only and mentality of filling stadiums should be approached with cation. it has taken MLS over 15 years to get to where they are now and filling stadiums with owners barely stop bleeding red. i would suggest targeting rugby hot beds and aiming for smaller stadiums instead of shooting for NFL size stadiums, nothing turns fans and players off right away then to sit in a large stadium or arena and only have 1/3 filled. there is nothing wrong with playing in 5-20k stadiums. charleston has a nice 5k stadium and even thoe it is small its coast effective for any potential owner and allows for intimate setting for fans and players. now if you have a team in a market that has much more then 5k fan intrested then sure shoot for a larger size stadium but to say you will play in NFL stadium that seats any where from 60k-75k and you will only get about 8-12k average then that spells nothing but dissater for your franchise, moral of the team and fan support. im not saying go out and have your owners build rugby specific stadiums but it wont hurt to connect with local mls teams and use there facilities. last i checked i'm sure the MLS owners would be happy to have another avenue to bring in money (i've publicly tweeted the san jose earthquakes president about rugby games and there new stadium and he has said numerous times that they want to host rugby matches and would be just fine). to flat out ailegnt half your potential fan base and to be so ambiotus is very risky.
Pro: atlest something is happening! regaurdless how many holes there is and how its not what we all want, none the less its something! who knows from this there could be another league willing to start up and if also succesful would eventually merge or creat a D2 level, with talks of west coast teams takeing matters into there own hands and creating there own league if succesfull they to could have cross over games. we could see our own rugby version of MLB. think about it, with a country so vast and large and to much land in between clubs why not have a umbrella label but both leagues work side by side and winner of west vs winner of east. rugby is just as well known around the world as soccer is, i know soccer is alittle more popular. but if those in charge can just fallow the blue print of what MLS has done by starting out low pay and working there way up to where they are now why cant rugby be where MLS is 10-15 years from now. they just need to be cautious and careful how to go about things. NRFL is being ambitious and willing to put up the money, taking football players may not be the key idea we all want especially when there are several rugby players in the usa who have been playing since high school sitting here waiting for a league like this to happen. what one of the problems soccer had before mls was even with so many kids playing soccer there was no where for players after college to go any where and to start off with to get attention and sponsorship going mls had to bring in popular maybe out dated soccer players, now if NRFL is successful these current youth kids who are going through the system will now have a league for them self's to strive for. football players right now yes and why not, league needs players to start off with that will catch the average Americans eyes and can deliver a hit. eventually there will be more specific rugby players who will make there way on teams, but flip side is you will have two sport players. and having a good player who is good at football and rugby is not a bad idea at all.
even if its not what we want we as rugby fans and supporters should get behind such efforts, once teams become more realistic pick one and support it. nothing shows potential owners and buyers more then seeing green. if merchandise sales are good and tv viewership is sub-par then other investors such as MARK CUBAN would more then likely want to come in. but if we hold a grudge against NRFL and don't support it and go against it then we do nothing but set our self's back even further from finally getting a legitimate league going where players like Todd clever and Chris wyles can stay states side and play. with the potential money from Americans and better facilities to back such efforts maybe having Canada also involved wont be such a bad idea. 1) they are ranked higher then usa, 2) seem to always find a way to win games against usa and 3) better organization top to bottom having those up north will not be a bad idea and may in the long run strengthen rugby all together in North America and begin to challenge the northern hemisphere countries and southern more often. there is nothing wrong for us to have a strong lasting relationship with our rivals, certainly couldn't hurt us any more.
but sadly until rugby law can stop hyping its self and start showing us fans investors, official teams, players and contracts. this is nothing more then what others have promised us.
Mac Robertson here - Co-Head of RugbyLaw and NRFL. First, we have no interest in emulating MLS. A 20,000 capacity stadium focus will cost you decades in development - USA is the land where if a sport succeeds the attendance is 30,000 plus. Not bravado, just how the financing works out. MLS is locking itself into failure or a one off niche special events advertiser.
ReplyDeleteThere is a chance that RU XV doesn't make it in the USA, so be it. But we, of course, think it will.
We think the current move by most in USA RU XV to the MLS house thesis is because to date they share the same product quality, if not less, than MLS.
In the age of Pele, soccer sold out Giants Stadium in NYC. Nuff said.
RugbyLaw has no need to do anything with any timing but to not launch until we can field a team that can take on anyone in the world. We think based on all that we have learned to date it will be Summer of 2014.
American and Canadians are the best and most educated sports fans in the world. And we are shooting for all of them. A product or ways and means that pleases only the very narrow and small rugby demographics now is not sufficient. Happily by presenting the world's best rugby we will not only develop a North American fan base of which almost all don't know rugby at all now, but will satisfy the current North American rugby community. That quality of play that we feel is vital is the core difference between our strategy and all others. We have no interest nor will we be party to "developmental rugby".
thank you for the feed back, i hope you can understand that because we have heard this story before that there would be some opposition. in the end we all want this to succeed very much and get off the ground, but because we still don't see any other information such as sponsors or even official team status there is reaason for por and con opionions.
ReplyDeletejust to clear it up, NRFL is not responsible to create the better rugby player for USA rugby to use as there national player but to help create the best American rugger. if that so called player or two does get the call from USA rugby to play in test matches then so be it. usa rugby is 100% not involved nor sanctioned NRFL as its own, but will there be a chance for both parties to work together and usa rugby be part of NRFL? and will current rugby players be allowed to try out?
it will take time but people will come around, and i do hope this works out and we continue to hear more as time goes on.
What we find really strange is how almost all in USA rugby folks are all set to impose on RU XV a certain structure and form, and accept a product quality thereby, that they would find unacceptable in all their favorite "major league" sports - NHL MLB NFL NBA...
ReplyDeleteQuick, tell me who the NGB for American football is, and it isnt the NFL. It is - well there are about 3 of them, and they lose and gain one every few years. How about the oversight and direction USAB gives the NBA? Yet the USAB team they field for the Olympics is provided by the NBA for the most part.
The point is that no major league sport has much to do with the NGB (what USA Rugby is ) but for helping out for the Olympics or occasional donations. There is no sanction fees, no oversight, not reporting into an international body. Yet the USA major leagues provide arguably the world's best athletes and the best play in those particular sports. Perhaps a trend?
We accept and encourage pro/con consideration as it shows we are worth the time of the community. We are very careful never to over promise and compared to almost all we are transparent. Just buttonhole us and ask - @RugbyLawMN and @theNRFL .
It is very difficult to launch a major league effort in North America. For the most part it is not a question of "rugby knowledge", but of investment banking and law (and common sense).
what part of the year will season kick off and when will we hear news of players signing and teams becoming official.
Deletethank you again for responses they are very helpful for those of us who are seeking answers and knowledge and will be looking forward to success of NRFL
Sorry, just noted this.
DeleteThe season will be off-season tot he NFL as we are contact football and why bother to compete with the NFL? We can provide an answer many NFL houses have in stadium usage, compliment NFL, and gain a loyal following from many of the die hard contact football fans.
Players are being contacted now from any source we think are athletic enough to play in same arena as a NFL team - or MLB or NBA or NHL for that matter. If we also can locate elite ruggers - on a world wide nasis - all the better.