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Major League Rugby will expand to 12 teams in 2020. The new teams in Boston (New England Free Jacks), Washington DC (Old Glory), and Atlanta (Rugby ATL) have already been approved and the door has now closed on further expansion next season.
League commissioner Dean Howes has confirmed that Dallas are the 13th ‘full member’ and the third Texan team could join in the 2021 season. Other interest has come from several parties but none, as of yet, have received member status. The franchise buy-in price is currently set at $4 million USD.
The new format for the 2020 season is set to come earlier than expected, with an announcement to come later this week according to Howes. An owners meeting recently held in Houston secured changes to both the regular season and playoff format.
It’s expected the league will move to a conference system, likely East and West. With the season length set to remain the same, a possible format could see home-and-away against in-conference teams and one game against the teams in the other conference.
Other changes will see the long stretches of home and away matches like those experienced by Austin, Toronto, and New York this season reduced. The season will be pushed forward to avoid the blizzard-like conditions seen in Utah and Glendale with the 2020 start date to be confirmed imminently.
Future expansion will be slowed with genuine concerns about the dilution of talent given that at least 100 new players will be required to fill spots on the three incoming franchises. Near 30% of those will come from overseas with some – like Free Jacks recruits Sean McNulty and Ronan McCusker – American eligible and not falling under import restrictions.
A second Canadian franchise remains desirable given that it will not draw on the USA player base but as of yet there is no definitive bid from logical destination Vancouver. Plans for a team in Los Angeles – the LA Coast – have dissipated for now with more strategic future West Coast targets in the Bay Area or Sacramento and Las Vegas.
The Midwest is as of yet untouched with originally intended teams in Kansas City, Minneapolis, and Chicago not materialising. Fortress Obetz has been mooted as a possible venue though Columbus now falls under Old Glory’s franchise catchment area, making a team there unlikely in the short-term.
MLR’s geographical distribution for the 2020 season can be seen below.
