Pro Rugby Ramble thus far 2/13 (12:12 pm PT update)

Having a team in Sacramento and playing at Bonney field is actually a smart move, its a Temp Stadium that has done very well in drawing fans over the last two years for test matches ( I was there last year for the Canada win and loved the stadium , there are some game day atmosphere things that could be added to make it more enjoyable but those can be done later). with Bonney field expanding this past year to 11k I cant see how the team cant pack the stadium a few times through out the year. Plus the fact that this is a temp stadium you have to think that if the team keeps pulling in good numbers of fans that when ever the USL soccer team does move up to MLS and gets there real stadium built that this team wont move with them, and if not then they have a nice 11k stadium to them selfs that they can do what ever they want with it.

Now I am a bit disappointed that San Jose didn't get the 2nd California team, especially since the team has been very open about hosting rugby matches at the stadium and I've heard nothing but rumors and maybes for the past few years that the Quakes where eyeing buying into what ever pro rugby league may come. that said I am happy the Bay Area did get a team in general and I can still see Avaya stadium hosting Rugby matches down the road, such as USA test matches, maybe the Pro Rugby final and of course the 7s World Cup in a few years. with that said I am disappointed if rumor is true that Boxer Stadium will be home of the San Francisco based club. a stadium that only seats in the 3k ball park will most likely be the smallest venue in the league. Built in the 50's that stadium has concrete seating and only has one side of seating. very limited parking around the stadium with fans having to park quite a ways away in the nearest parking structure. lets hope this is just temp. for the first year if so, if not then I hope this team does put some money in to upgrade the place. Kezar would of been a better fit, yes it is much older but the place did just get a upgrade on seating's and sound system. add in the addition of 1,000 seats from historic candlestick stadium Kezar could of easily been sold to potential season ticket holders. The one major draw back to playing in SF is the lack of parking and mass parking lots near ether stadium. Boxer does have a good size parking lot close(ish) but you'll have to walk across a college campus, and a walk bridge over a freeway to get to the field.

 *That all said I am happy the Bay Area does have a team and like many we as a rugby community need to get behind our local Team and support them because there success will help push rugby into the mainstream, there failure will doom rugby in America for another decade or so. I look forward to getting my hands on some merch and hopefully one day during a trip back home able to catch a game.

Well it is official, San Francisco is now the 2nd team for Pro Rugby with home field being Boxer stadium. The league did state that there will be some renovations done to Boxer Stadium but whether that means renovating seats or sound system, and so on we don't know yet. There is no word yet on when or if there will be a press conference like there was in Sacramento for the San Francisco team yet, although there should be if they want some media attention and people to know about the team. As of now 11/20 there has been no mention on any of the media outlets in the Bay Area, news papers, news channels or local small town papers. SF has a coach in Paul Keeler

Announced from Pro Rugby them self's and TIAR San Diego will be the home of the 3rd team with some changes to the number of teams for year 1. instead of 6 teams the league will only have 5. even though 5 is still a odd and small number lets not be to quick to pass judgement. first off we should be happy that this league is still going to happen and not fade away like the others, 2ndly this is all being funded from one major person so for them and us it helps to lose one team and free up more resources to assure that the first 5 clubs will be healthy enough to survive year 1 and this league will go into year 2 with the main focus on landing owners and exploring markets. The league has said via TIAR that there will be a mountain west club located somewhere and he other to the east. so if and when this league does expand you can rest assure that they will expand by 3 clubs ( I am guessing ) to the east to help have a healthy balance of even coastal teams. Now what is being stated is that 1 of the two locations has been rumored for a while but that the 2nd location is a wild card. if one of the teams is to be in the mountain area I would have to say ether Salt Lake city or Denver/Glendale. which would mean that possibly maybe the Philly team isn't happening and I would go with the a club placed in the Carolinas somewhere, ether north or south has both very good and WR field approved facilities, now the real wild card may be Pittsburg.

Ohio is in- Obetz will be the home of the 4th ProRugby club, still with in the metro area of Columbus this placement of a team even though mentioned very earlier on still was some what a surprise as others where hoping for Philly or even Atlanta as landing a spot. Now word is that the team will play out of the Columbus Crew practice facility and will bring in temp. bleachers to have a capacity of 3-4k. on top of that there will be press boxes and others amenities brought in to create a game day atmosphere.

Colorado,Glendale- Still to be unconfirmed by ProRugby but heavily rumored should be announced most likely this coming week.

* What was pointed out is that with both Colorado and Ohio clubs that most likely they will not have the city names attached to them so that they can brand them self's as a Club representing that state. Colorado RFC & Ohio RFC


Broadcast-  Who really knows till word gets out. one path the league could take is the proposed RIM channel that should launch sometime in the next few months, I am assuming the Americas 6 nations will probably be one of the first games to be shown on it, if viewer ship has some steady numbers year #2 could be the year a major network picks it up. I would go with #1 NBC ( sports network) #2 Fox Sports and #3 ESPN. ESPN is last only because as great as espn is there is already so much content on the network as is that its hard to see them dedicating one to two days a week to just Rugby plus aside from showing any games there's the chance the during espn news hours and sports center that any news about teams or the league will even get mentioned , just ask MLS or the AFL . ESPN shows games from both leagues but how many times do you see them even report on news from ether league unless its a signing of a major player or a championship won. I would rather have Fox Sports show the games and have them speak about league news during there segments because lets face it, they are playing catchup with ESPN and being able to tap into the Rugby fan base that is still growing in America would be a plus for them and a give them a one up on there network rivals. That said, if this first season presses on with out any major networks involved I wouldn't be shocked to see the semifinals or the Grand Final being shown on one of the networks.

*Nigel just confirmed to me that the RIM channel will be available for the ROKU device, and other platforms are still in the works. xbox, playstation, & apple tv I am sure will be made available as the months go on. he did not say when the channel will be up and running but just that they are still working things out.

What we know so far- teams that the league has officially added are 1- Sacramento, 2- San Francisco, 3- San Diego, 4- Ohio . 

Canada is sitting out year 1 to add teams in year 2, most likely with Vancouver and Toronto coming in the same time. all games will be streamed through the RIM channel that so far will be on Roku, the idea is to show major networks the subscription value rugby can pull in and negotiate a good deal with any network.