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Fri 1 Dec 2017 | 01:55
USA's Major League Rugby announces schedule for 2018 inaugural season

3
Comments

The USA is set to make another leap into the professional era of rugby as the full 2018 schedule for the recently created Major League Rugby has been released. This time around, the newly formed league carries with it a major TV deal.

Seven teams will play the inaugural season over a 10-week span, beginning on April 21, 2018 and ending on June 24, 2018. Each team will play 8 games, with 2 bye weeks. View the schedule here.

It remains to be seen how successful this venture will be in the States considering the number of times a professional fifteens rugby competition has been attempted.

Some competitions have lasted longer than others, however, the recent blunders and finger-pointing surrounding the now defunct Pro Rugby, which folded after its maiden season, will be fresh on the minds of most rugby fans.

One major difference for the MLR is that CBS Sports Network, the 24-hour home of CBS Sports, will be carrying the matches.

This network is widely available domestically in the US and also available on other various streaming providers such as YouTube TV, fuboTV, Playstation Vue, Hulu, CBSSports.com, and the CBS Sports App.  

It goes without saying that it takes a serious financial commitment and no small amount of patience for such a venture to find any kind of success commercially.

Hopefully, the organizers will learn from past experiences and finally be able to deliver a long-lasting US domestic rugby competiton.

TEAMS INVOLVED IN 2018:

Rugby Wrap Up's Matt McCarthy discussed the new deal, and how a New York will fit in.

credit: rugby wrap up

Posted By: davidharper

3 Comments

  • larry
    3:26 PM 09/12/2017

    You're right about that, but then again, every time I see a rugby union game, and in the summer read about more law changes, the game is becoming league! Just the fact that rucks don't have to have any opposition players to form one is one huge step forward in making the differences between the two sports less and less. It's bad enough that a ball can just lie on the ground, obviously not in a ruck anymore if it's behind a rear foot, and it's still considered to be in by most referees, and the defense can't come across to try to gain possession, if there's no scrum half or acting half anywhere near the ball. I call the ball out when I ref when I see that. Of course rucks are rarely contested anymore, which means teams should resort more to mauls, but that's been made a shambles with the decade ago law changes to mauls that basically allow obstruction. It's all about scoring more points and allowing the team with the ball to basically keep it, phase after phase. I find it quite boring.

  • larry
    3:20 PM 09/12/2017

    It's rather stupid not to have a San Francisco team, given that that area of the USA has the strongest rugby. The last attempt at a professional division did have a side in San Francisco. San Francisco's AT&T Park is also having the World Cup 7s in July when the baseball Giants are on an away games trip.

  • 5:23 PM 03/12/2017

    'League' and 'Rugby' should not be both used in the same title for the 15-a-side game.

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