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New frontiers are being crossed in Super Rugby Americas. Americas Rugby News can confirm that a plan has been presented to Sudamérica Rugby for the creation of a new franchise for Super Rugby Americas 2024. The new team will be Central America’s first professional rugby team.
The franchise will see Panama becoming the latest country to join professional rugby. The team will be the Panama Eagles and will play home matches in the country.
Federico Castro is CEO of the Panama Eagles. He made the announcement together with Sudamérica Rugby’s Pablo Galeano. In addition to being a private entity with support from the regional governing body the franchise will also be in operated collaboration with the Union Panameña de Rugby (UPR). The franchise has the backing of Panama’s National Sports Institution.
Panama has competed in lower divisions of Sudamérica Rugby. The team won the South American C Championship in 2018. Despite the name, the tournament was exclusively Central American. Panama defeated El Salvador and Honduras. Restructuring and rebranding meant that Costa Rica and Guatemala had been promoted to the second division. World Rugby granted Panama associate member status in 2020.
Panama’s geography makes the Panama Eagles a compelling prospect. Copa Airlines flies from Panama City to Asunción Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Denver, Montevideo, Santiago and São Paulo. In other words, there are direct flights from Panama City to the home location of every Super Rugby Americas 2023 competition.
The make-up of the team is unknown.Neither Panama nor Central America presently has a High Performance Rugby Center. A such, it is highly likely that the team would recruit from abroad, predominantly from Argentina. This would be similar to the creation and participation of Olímpia Lions (Paraguay) and Cafeteros Pro (Colombia) in the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR).
Additional expansion is expected for Super Rugby Americas. There are possibilities from within exciting Super Rugby Americas’ countries. Tucumán has expressed interest in joining while Rosario is another Argentine city that has been speculated about.
Uruguay was to initially have two teams. Peñarol and Nacional were to enter but the latter team did not join SLAR. A second Uruguayan team will continue to be a possibility. Chile may also expand to have a team in the southern city of Concepción.
Colombia’s exit following SLAR 2022 has seen reevaluations. Changes in governance have focused on other areas; however, Daniel Hourcade has said Cafeteros may be back in 2024. In addition to the American Raptors, Canada was invited to play in Super Rugby Americas 2023. Pacific Pride would have played out of Vancouver. Such a possibility will continue so long as Western Canada is not a part of Major League Rugby (MLR).
Mexico has shown interest in joining the MLR. A team based in Mexico City would be very well linked to most MLR cities. Mexico remains a Rugby Americas North not Sudamérica Rugby member. However, Super Rugby Americas Rugby expansion to the USA and Panama offers Mexico an alternative.
Within South America additional expansion is also possible. Peru has shown interest in fielding a team. There are no indications of when this may be.
