Major League Rugby

[Mellsblue]

Schedule is out:

https://www.majorleague.rugby/schedules/

[Puja]

RUNY giving up early on the idea of fans coming to their games. Sensible approach, rather than trying to sell tickets and hoping, but it's going to be an expensive season if they can't get fans until late.



Puja

[Mellsblue]

RUNY giving up early on the idea of fans coming to their games. Sensible approach, rather than trying to sell tickets and hoping, but it's going to be an expensive season if they can't get fans until late.



Puja

The six season ticket holders will be gutted. Hopefully the authorities will be allowing spectators in to games by the start of the season.

[Mellsblue]

Don’t know why I quoted you. It’s not as if anyone else comes in here.

[Puja]

Don’t know why I quoted you. It’s not as if anyone else comes in here.

Because it's better than quoting yourself. You'll go blind if you do that too often. We do get an occasional visit from morepork to brighten our spirits and, even if we didn't, I still wouldn't regret Rowan having been given the boot.

It's going to be a weird situation when the league does restart. On the one hand, England allows crowds of 2k, but then again, England doesn't have a leader that is currently denying the coronavirus is even a problem. It could get much worse by the time Senor SaneButSenile takes office, despite the imminent vaccine.

Dallas are playing in a stadium that could hold 44,000 for their first season and LA at 77,000 Memorial Coliseum, so I suspect social distancing might not be a problem for them. The Freejacks are currently taking season ticket orders, despite being under the same restrictions as New York. So, no-one's got a clue.

Puja

[Puja]

Good synopsis of the schedule here: http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2020/1 ... to-expect/

Puja

[Puja]

Don’t know why I quoted you. It’s not as if anyone else comes in here.

RUNY are under new ownership: https://rugbywrapup.com/2021/01/rugby-u ... k-kerouac/

Puja

[Mellsblue]

And they’re not messing around:

[Puja]

Very useful signing indeed. Even at 36, he's going to add a lot, especially in teaching the youngsters. Didn't RUNY pickup a promising scrum-half through the draft this year?

They've also added Nick Civetta from Newcastle, which is a very good signing (if slightly lower key).

Puja


ETA. Apparently, they have 2 new promising young scrum-halves: https://rugbywrapup.com/2021/01/instant ... united-ny/

[Puja]

Dallas have pulled out of 2021 with the plan of having their debut in a non-pandemic 2022: https://www.dallasjackals.com/news/dall ... n-to-2022/

On the one hand, I understand the idea of, "You only get one opportunity to make a first impression," and understand them wanting to go straight in with a bang (plus they might have their city-centre stadium sorted out by then, rather than playing in a 44k baseball stadium because it's cheap), but on the other, this is not a good look 2 months from the start of the season and after signing a good number of players. Decision should have been made back in November at the latest.

Puja

[Puja]

A good article on behind the scenes at RUNY, especially the chaos that is convincing visa officials that Basteraud was quite good at rugby: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/ ... bastareaud

Lots of uncertainty about the new season - Dallas pulling out last minute, San Diego have announced they're playing all their home games in Las Vegas this year due to California COVID restrictions, Toronto still haven't announced where they're going to play with the border still closed. I'm hoping the owners have deep pockets - there's not exactly a good time for a global pandemic, but knocking out the 3rd and 4th seasons of a start-up league is pretty close to the worst.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

That was pretty interesting, cheers. That book will be worth a read. As for the US immigration system, watching from afar as my brother and sil wrestle with the system to obtain visas for jobs they already do whilst already in the country, and with the help of a huge multinational and a phalanx of lawyers, I can only imagine the fat Basta saga is in a very long line of very similar stories.

[Mellsblue]

[Puja]

LA are going big. They've confirmed that they're going to be the anchor tenant of the LA Coliseum for the next 5 years. On the one hand, it's an iconic LA venue and will get them more attention and attendance than playing from some podunk little stadium in Orange County would've done, on the other, it's 77k capacity, which is something of an ask for a new league where the highest ever attendance was 6,000. I'm assuming a lot of sheeting off will be going on.

They've also been signing strongly, with a lot of Yank talent being supplemented by the likes of Dave Dennis, Adam Ashe, Billy Meakes, DTH van der Merwe, and this week getting Adam Ashley-Cooper and Matt Giteau on 1 year contracts. Silly name or not, oversized stadium or not, they're ambitious and they're gonna be a real threat.

Puja

[Puja]

MLR releasing their own streaming platform which'll have all the games plus highlights, free around the world. Good idea, to my mind - at this stage they need eyeballs more than they need the miniscule amount of money that they'd get from giving ESPN and Fox exclusive rights to the games and this way they get to both have their matches on normal television and provide an easy in for anyone wanting to introduce a new fan to the game.

Only question is - will the quality be utterly horrendous? There was an interview with the league commissioner the other day where he was talking about needing to have a quality looking product and the fact that everyone's been investing in the backroom, so hopefully not. The highlights that have been on Youtube previous have varied wildly in quality, with some just literally showing the run in for tries (so none of the buildup or passing, just literally a player running over a line and putting the ball down).

Puja

[Puja]

Giltinis are now 2/2 after absolutely clumping Seattle by 50-27 (and it was 45-7 before a Seawolves rally in the second half). They're looking like a good bet for the title, with only San Diego looking like they can stand in their way.

I was uncertain about the Coliseum move, but it looks fantastic on television and it gives them an air of legitimacy that playing in a little stadium would not have. They're allowed fans in there from next week, so we'll see whether they can draw a crowd big enough to not be a pea rolling around in a bucket.

Streaming service is up, running, and looking good. It's called The Rugby Network, there are apps on Google and Apple, and there are full match replays of every game for free, as well as highlights, and magazine show. Worth a look.

Puja