Professional Rugby set for the USA

[Karl]

Association of Surfing Professionals.

Not immediately obvious what the relevance is right? He's a very well connected and entrepreneurial Aussie who would love to see Rugby do better over there I reckon.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Thought so, just wanted to clarify it though. Should let him know. He may be able to seek out exactly who these stakeholders are through his connections.

 

[Karl]

pm me some details and ill hook them up

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Still chasing more info particularly about the who, but I know who to contact that may be able to get some names. Gives us a couple of days and I'll see.




Sent. Just have to wait for a response.

 

[spooony]

Rugby League or Union?

Grid Iron they still under the believe you must be huge to be a good player. They still have to learn that there is no substitute for speed.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Rugby League or Union?

Grid Iron they still under the believe you must be huge to be a good player. They still have to learn that there is no substitute for speed.

Rugby Union.

 

[Bardon]

I think this is great news. The only worry is that in the US they tend to try for massive success from the start (ala their soccer league) and if that doesn't happen backers pull out pretty quickly. Also Rugby is a very community oriented sport so will be interesting to see how it works in what will undoubtedly be a franchise model in the US.

Very interested to see how this turns out. Can see the the US replacing Japan as the favourite place for International class players to end their careers overseas.

 

[Shiggins]

Will be interesting to see how they film it and call it. Should be similar. Nfl is I guess. As long as its not like itali. I fucking hate how itali films rugby.

 

[Shiggins]

I have seen rugby a lot on American shows. they seem to play it a bit in schools and programs for poor communities

 

[Jnor]

Kind of irrelevant but how does Italy film rugby?

 

[Bardon]

In the 6Ns the pictures are provided by the host broadcaster. Here's one from the BBC but obviously the actual filming was done by the Italians.

Here's a "normal" camera positioning for the 6Ns as a comparison

It's little things like the camera is either miles away from the action or so zoomed in you can't see what's on outside the player with the ball. Then when it comes to the kicks at goal good luck trying to actually see the ball going between the posts, most of the time you have to listen for the crowd to see if it went over.

 

[EVERYFWDTHINKTHEYREA6OR7]

A few of my mates from school played growing up. Two of them represented Australia in the sport. Always tried to talk me into playing. At 6 0' and 125kgs they thought I'd go alright. Tried the gear on once at a party and went hammer and tongs at one another. You can be excused for feeling damn near invincible, barely felt a thing.

More news on the topic. A group rumoured to consist of rather wealthy and influential business people are said to be behind this, both from a Rugby and non-Rugby background. One person quoted that if the names he's been hearing are true, there's no one in Rugby they couldn't buy. They have registered their business under the name of North American Professional Rugby Limited Liability Company (LLC) in Dover, Delaware. As it turns out Delaware is alegal tax haven which explains why they have registered the business entity there when they intend to run it the western half of the United States.

In the north east it is played quite extensively at Uni, it's kinda got a bit of a preppy ivy league school thing about it to. I have met quite a few influential people from that there that were involved with the game.

 

[AngrySeahorse]

Rugby League or Union?

Grid Iron they still under the believe you must be huge to be a good player. They still have to learn that there is no substitute for speed.

So true, some time ago (& still to some extent sadly) we used to have a lot of our teams player positions in the forwards based on who was the biggest. We absolutely smashed other teams when we had ball in hand but other teams worked out we were big but slow, couldnt get to enough breakdowns, or do enough support runs for the faster backs, all the opposition has to do was tackle low & get around the park quicker. As a smaller backrower it was painful to watch from the bench our team persist with bigger slower packs as we slowly got worked out & suffered some losses till we instilled some faster forwards.

Best quote on speed I heard was "Speed kills, it kills others if you've got it & it kills you if you dont".

 

[qwerty51]

That's interesting Bardon, I never thought much of it but I always thought watching Italians internationals and club games there was something odd about the broadcast.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

In the north east it is played quite extensively at Uni, it's kinda got a bit of a preppy ivy league school thing about it to. I have met quite a few influential people from that there that were involved with the game.

Thanks to what appears to be an American poster from my piece on The Roar, the group actively sought out interest from groups with the finances and facilities to host team and it just so happened that all those capable of doing so at the moment are based in the Western half of the United States.

 

[EVERYFWDTHINKTHEYREA6OR7]

Thanks to what appears to be an American poster from my piece on The Roar, the group actively sought out interest from groups with the finances and facilities to host team and it just so happened that all those capable of doing so at the moment are based in the Western half of the United States.

I don't know much about the western side of the states at all. I couldn't even compare them also. The states can have a lot of issues in the east during winter to play games.

I think one of the reasons using Canada as an example as to why they haven't been able to do it is due to weather also. Seperate seasons for both sides of the country.

 

[Sir Arthur Higgins]

They can have the season across the whole of the continent provided they are able to start it in april/early may and end no later than October/November. that provides a fairly long season and means games could be played in new york, toronto, denver etc. the length means that they could also accommodate an international window for the North American inbound tests. if the rumoured locations are correct (including calgary, salt lake, and denver) the season will have an april start.

If there are two canadian teams, the will be going to two of the following cities: Vancouver, Calgary and Victoria. if the season will accommodate calgary, I would bet a team will be going there along with vancouver.
Canada has a semi-professional system up and running and as we know from recent news, the USA is about to get theirs going.

the oil money from calgary and the real estate money from vancouver that backs rugby is significant. Victoria, while a city of only 370,000, is the heart of rugby in canada and there are enough millionaire businessmen and real estate developers there, who are rugby tragics, to support a team. i've heard rumours that there are plans a foot to redevelop victoria's royal athletic park into a permanent seating stadium of 15,000 and to upgrade the facilities . These are fairly new rumours so perhaps it is linked. Vancouver team would probably play out of Empire Stadium in East Van - a 20,000 capacity stadium specific for rectangular sports. it was recently refurbished to accommode the CFL's BC Lions whilst BC Place Stadium was getting refurbished.

I think the western focus is critical given the extensive costs of operating in north america. ultimately, the middle of north america doesn't much play the game. the western half in both countries is where the game has its largest following with a few exceptions (notably newfoundland in canada...a canadian tasmania that is fanatical for its rugby)

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Sean Whalen who owns the RSL side the Utah Warriors in his discussions has indicated more teams from the East are interested. Details are being kept close to the chest at the moment. I also get the impression that from his tone that this may not be the only League to emerge. Interesting times. Note: There will be a Utah based franchise and two Canadian teams but the Utah Warriors won't be that team.

 

[Tim&Bingo]

http://www.theroar.com.au/2012/01/09/is-professional-rugby-finally-about-to-emerge-in-the-usa/

A little more info above

 

[p.Tah]

Victoria, while a city of only 370,000, is the heart of rugby in canada and there are enough millionaire businessmen and real estate developers there, who are rugby tragics, to support a team.

Sir Arthur you may already know this but...
Alfred St. George Hamersley, the 2nd captain of England who is credited with starting rugby in Victoria, Canada also introduced rugby to Canterbury NZ. A shame he didn't travel more... may have started a few more rugby hot beds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_St._George_Hamersley