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Major League Rugby has unveiled its regular season schedule for its sixth campaign in 2023. The new year will feature 12 teams split into two conferences. As confirmed earlier, the LA Giltinis and Austin Gilgronis are out, while a new team from Chicago has joined the Western Conference.
The season kicks off on February 17, roughly two weeks later than in 2022. As with this past year, each team will play 16 games with two bye weeks during the 18-round season. The final round will be played on the weekend of June 17-18.
Three stadiums will be new to the league in 2023. San Diego fans will get their first glimpse of rugby at Snapdragon Stadium on opening weekend, while Chicago’s new home of SeatGeek Stadium will welcome the Utah Warriors on March 4. Defending champions New York will play their home opener at a new venue yet to be revealed on February 26 against Toronto.
Kickoff times are yet to be confirmed but two games are scheduled on opening day. NOLA will host New England at The Gold Mine, and ATL will face Toronto at Silverbacks Park. The next day will feature a rematch of the 2022 Championship Final with Seattle looking for revenge against New York at what is sure to be a packed Starfire Stadium.
As is tradition, Toronto will play much of the first half of the season on the road with six away games to start the campaign. The longest home stretch goes to Chicago, who play their first ever match against Old Glory in Leesburg but then head back to Illinois for five straight weeks.
The final playoff format and dates for the knockout rounds have yet to be confirmed. A similar three-round format like the one used in 2022 would likely see the Final played on the July 8 weekend. If two rounds are preferred, the Final could fall on July 1st.
A complete schedule can be seen here.
