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Dallas and Los Angeles are the next cities to join Major League Rugby according to new Commissioner George Killebrew. The statement was made at a press conference in New Orleans on Wednesday to announce the Gold’s move to a new stadium in 2020. While both cities have been mentioned in past conversations, this is the first confirmation from the league itself that plans are moving ahead.
Killebrew’s reveal comes just days after he was confirmed as MLR’s chief administrator. He joined after a long career with the Dallas Mavericks and it is no coincidence. The Dallas franchise is understood to be backed by Donnie Nelson, the current General Manager and President of the NBA team. Dallas were part of the original membership group ahead of the inaugural 2018 MLR season but despite paying league dues have yet to field a team in any capacity.
The LA Coast, headed by Stuart Proctor and Patrick McCullagh, announced their intention to field a team in the 2019 season but multiple factors led to the proposal’s demise. James Godfrey is the Chief Executive Officer of the new bid, an Australian heavily invested in New South Wales rugby. His organization is called Loyals Rugby, a brand they hope to expand to multiple ventures across the globe.
Both teams will be new ventures. Speculation was growing in recent months that the Austin franchise could be relocated after a winless 2019 season and off-field concerns, but they have been granted a stay of execution. With Dallas now confirmed and Houston bedded in with a new purpose-built stadium, Austin will be under increased pressure to deliver in 2020. Multiple bidders outside of Texas have expressed interest, among them Las Vegas, where the league will host five regular season games across two weekends in February.
Details are also emerging of a bid from former RC Toulon majority owner Mourad Boudjellal for a team in Miami. The comic book magnate says he intends to have the team operating for the 2022 season under the RCT banner with direct links to the French Top 14 side. He recently sold his majority share in Toulon to Bernard Lemaître, a prominent investor in the pharmaceutical industry. Boudjellal named Lemaître and billionaire entrepreneur Christophe Lavigne, ironically a resident of Austin, as those who will be part of the group financing the project.
Questions remain about how the league will address its new regional conference system, currently an East-West divide, while debates about the depth of North American talent available to populate more teams in 2021 and 2022 are certain to continue. Killebrew’s primary task, however, is to increase sponsorship revenue with additional major markets central to expanding MLR’s media visibility. To that end both ESPN and Fox will be added as broadcast partners in 2020. MLR has been shown on CBS Sports Network, Facebook, and various local networks in its first two seasons.
Assuming Dallas and LA kick off as planned in 2021, the race will be on to join in 2022 with the league likely to slow expansion at 16 teams. A successful Miami bid would leave just one spot open in the short-term with sizable rugby communities in Chicago and San Francisco, among others, currently frozen out. Meanwhile Canadian fans are desperate for a second team, a Vancouver franchise nowhere in sight with only the Toronto Arrows carrying the nation’s flag. The next six months will be vital for any group intent on getting its foot in the door.
