On the back of the success of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, the game is set to continue to grow by taking a big step forward in a very large and previously untapped market.
The United States of America will have it's own professional league for the sport of rugby, which has been a long time coming when you consider that professional leagues already exist (we're looking at you, Lingerie Football..), and it's all set to kick-off in April 2016.
The league will known as the Professional Rugby Organization, or PRO Rugby in it's much more American sounding acronym, and will feature just six teams in it's first season. Obviously the league will be looking to expand in the years following its launch, but the first teams will be based out of the Northeast, the Rocky Mountains and California, with Canadian teams being added in 2017.
US Rugby chairman Bob Latham expressed his delight at the news earlier this week:
As the fastest growing team sport in the USA, it is the time to have a sanctioned professional competition. We are very happy to partner with PRO Rugby in taking this step to popularize the game, to inspire Americans to fall in love with rugby, and to show the rugby world what American players can do.
This could be quite interesting.
If the public get behind it, we could be looking at an MLS-type situation where American college kids are blended with some of the fading stars of world rugby.
Picture a 38 year old Bryan Habana tearing down the wing for the New York Rhinos, or, fare more likely, Jamie Heaslip captaining the Rocky Mountain Ruckers into his 40s...
This could be magical.
Of course, we could lose Devin Toner to the NBA if they managed to get him over there..
We may be getting a bit ahead of ourselves here. Lets wait and see if it takes off first.
via USARugby.org
