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Major League Rugby will hold a Dispersal Draft on Wednesday, December 13th to find new homes for players from the New York Ironworkers and Toronto Arrows. Both were forced to suddenly fold after deals to buy the clubs fell through and they were unable to meet the league’s capital requirements.
The Dispersal Draft will be opt-in for players who had been signed by either club. Toronto had publicly confirmed 26 players, in additional their two Collegiate Draft picks, and while New York had not many any formal announcements it’s understand the bulk of their roster was in place for the new season.
Teams will hold exclusive negotiation rights for the players drafted, while those who go undrafted become free agents. As expected the league has declared all dispersal players exempt from the salary cap, though no exceptions have been made on those with international status as had been previously seen in 2021 when Dallas opted to postpone their inaugural season by one year.
As with the Collegiate Draft, Wednesday’s selections will be made in reverse order of the 2023 season with expansion side Miami selecting first. MLR has not specified the number of rounds but with over 50 players eligible to declare the most likely scenario is for three rounds to take place. The draft order is as follows, though teams are permitted to trade:
| 1 |  |
Miami Sharks |
| 2 |  |
Dallas Jackals |
| 3 |  |
Chicago Hounds |
| 4 |  |
Los Angeles (Rugby ATL) |
| 5 |  |
NOLA Gold |
| 6 |  |
Utah Warriors |
| 7 |  |
Houston SaberCats |
| 8 |  |
Old Glory DC |
| 9 |  |
Seattle Seawolves |
| 10 |  |
San Diego Legion |
| 11 |  |
New England Free Jacks |
