It's good to see the amount of money behind it. Have you heard anything about how it's been rating on cbs or the other networks showing games? I would expect the ratings to be small, but if there's any signs of growing interest that would be a big deal.
I think the competition is going to last. Way too early to say how successful it might be, but at the very least it seems there is enough interest and support for it to survive as a semi-professional competition averaging crowds of a few thousand people. Hopefully it will grow in the next few years and be sustainably professional with average crowds closer to 10k (or more).
I watched a fair bit of the Seattle Seawolves vs Utah game yesterday and it was very entertaining, and the atmosphere was great. Whenever they aired shots of the crowd you could see that a pretty high percentage of people had Seawolves jerseys or shirts on. If the league can get 8 or more teams supported like that it'll be a big success.
I actually heard something about the ratings last night and was coming to this thread to post them before I read your comment. Apparently it's averaging 75k on CBS and around the same on ESPN +. No word on the AT & T regional broadcasts. While that doesn't look like much in such a large market it actually compares fairly favourably to other relatively recent (in terms of 'major' professional competition) start ups in the form of Major League Lacrosse and Major League Soccer.
MLL has been around since 2001 and barely beats MLR on ratings now. While MLS was founded in 1993 and only rates in the mid 200k.
In regards to corwds. Both Seattle and Utah are the standard setters. They re averaging about the same and tend to be very vocal in their support. San Diego is quickly approaching them on both fronts as well. Houston should have the first stage of their stadium development done by next season which is similar in size to that of Seattle and much more convenient to get to than their current set up so they should draw in similar numbers to that next season. They do have the fan base for it. New York definitely will and DC should.
Glendale has treated this very much as a beta season and haven't pushed the marketing side of it as hard as they could have. But with the right mix they'll go close to filling their stadium next season as well. The concerns are NOLA and Austin. For differing reasons. For NOLA it's largely due to the size of their Rugby community. It's easily the smallest of the lot. I was concerned about the rushed nature of their facility but they've got a lot to work planned in the off season that will provide the necessary finishing. There's also plenty of room for them to expand that facility if and when that's necessary.
Austin on the other hand seems to be all politically driven. Apparently the ownership group are not well liked by other clubs for reasons I haven't had explained beyond parochialism is pretty entrenched in the city when it comes to Rugby. They also have issue with where they've been based. Round Rock which is on the outskirts of the city. However, it's hard to judge what their interest truly is as their only home game so far was on a stormy Thursday evening.
There has been some hinting at one of the groups may be looking to sell their licence. If that is indeed the case and not somone trying to stir shit (which is possible) I'd be willing to bet it's Austin.
