Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Major League Rugby just got a little more real. With 2018 just around the corner the newest professional rugby competition in the USA has lifted the lid on their schedule for their inaugural season. Seven teams will play eight games each over the course of ten weeks in the regular season, with dates for semi finals and a championship final still to be confirmed.
The final list of teams for the 2018 season is: Austin Elite, Glendale Raptors, Houston SaberCats, New Orleans Gold, San Diego Legion, Seattle Seawolves, and Utah Warriors.
Kansas City, Dallas, and Chicago are among those who have deferred their participation until at least 2019 while New York and Ontario will play a series of exhibition matches against MLR sides in 2018 with an eye to joining full-time in Season Two.
Opening day will be Saturday, April 21, with a heavyweight tilt between Austin and Glendale at Infinity Park set to kick off on CBS Sports Network at 5pm ET. The date is significant as it is the expiration date of the exclusive sanctioning agreement between PRO Rugby and USA Rugby.
The full list of ‘Game of the Week’ broadcasts, while still to be confirmed, appears to be:
Sat, Apr 21 – 14:00 PT / 17:00 ET – Austin @ Glendale
Sat, Apr 28 – 19:00 PT / 22:00 ET – Glendale @ Seattle
Sat, May 05 – 19:30 PT / 22:30 ET – Houston @ San Diego
Sat, May 12 – 14:00 PT / 17:00 ET – Austin @ Utah
Sat, May 19 – 14:00 PT / 17:00 ET – Houston @ New Orleans
Sat, May 26 – 18:00 PT / 21:00 ET – Glendale @ San Diego
Sat, Jun 02 – 18:00 PT / 21:00 ET – Seattle @ Houston
Sat, Jun 09 – 14:00 PT / 17:00 ET – Seattle @ Austin
Sat, Jun 16 – 19:00 PT / 22:00 ET – New Orleans @ Utah
Sat, Jun 23 – TBD – San Diego @ Austin
A complete schedule can be seen here while individual team fixtures and rosters as they stand can be seen via the links below.
