PRO Rugby partners with AOL, ONE

The broadcast details for the inaugural PRO Rugby season have been unveiled at last. With less than a week until the new North American professional rugby competition kicks off, CEO Doug Schoninger today announced that games will be broadcast live online at AOL.com and on television via ONE World Sports.

AOL, formerly American online, is a worldwide media brand owned by telecoms giant Verizon, who purchased the company in June 2015. Their streaming coverage will be free for all viewers, though how many and which games specifically are yet to be confirmed.

ONE World Sports is an American television channel offered by multiple cable and satellite providers that currently covers a wide range of sports, most notably a large selection of soccer.

Schoninger made the following statement on Facebook:

“As our first matches will be played this upcoming Sunday, I want to thank all our fans, players, coaches, and managers for making PRO Rugby’s Inaugural Year possible. When I look back on the last year, I can only reflect on how lucky I have been to have met a lot of the people who have been actively and passionately supporting the game in the USA over the previous decades. It is the love and the passion that I have acquired for Rugby Union that I wish to pass on to all Americans.

I want to give special thanks to our friends at USA Rugby and World Rugby for helping PRO Rugby get to this first step of our journey. I personally pledge that PRO Rugby and I will do our best to continue to build on the solid foundation that they have provided us with.

“I believe that PRO Rugby’s Inaugural Year forms a good base that will eventually lead to the USA being a prominent Rugby Union nation. But PRO Rugby’s and rugby’s American success ultimately rests with you, the FANS. All of us owe it to the game and its players to give our support to the best of our ability. Hopefully most of you can attend a game or two, but even if you can’t, we hope you will watch the matches on TV/Streaming, you will educate your non-rugby friends on the greatness of the game, and you will stay involved and supportive of the players and teams.

“So it is with this CALL TO ACTION that I ask all rugby supporters, both in the USA and Worldwide, to support our teams and players in these very important early days. Watch our broadcasted games on either AOL.com, our worldwide digital live stream partner, or One World Sports, our Cable TV partner, wear rugby gear and talk about our games, players and teams.

“Let us all show the rugby world, sponsors and media how special rugby is both on and off the field and how committed to its growth in the USA we all are. Every one of our fans is important and your support will give incredible opportunities to all rugby players from the youngest youth player, to the collegiate player, to the club player, and to the PRO Rugby player.

“I thank everyone for their support over the last year and I wish all our fans, players, coaches and managers a great season.”