Would this work for Rugby to grow in popularity in North America?

Question

If a Canadian & American pro league was to start up with a spring season could it lead to Rugby becoming more popular. There wouldn't be an issue of competing with football at that time of year and perhaps there would be the ability to sign a contract with say ESPN. Maybe small steps to something bigger down the road. Thanks.

Answer 1

Sure.  Summer would be the best time of year.  There are no sports to compete with that tie of year.  Rugby is very popular in Midwest college towns.  I assume in most college towns.  That would be a good place to recruit and advertise.

Answer 2

Thats a really good idea.  There is a lot of interest in the States for Rugby.  Just need some promotion.

Answer 3

ESPN doesnt even report the score of the Rugby World Cup right now in the states... not even on that little bar across the bottom of the screen!!!  Its going to take a lot to get rugby on TV here... i throw things at my tv everytime i see a spelling bee, poker, or a (yes i have seen this) SCRABBLE game on ESPN!!!!  argh- so frustrating!!!  The problem is the advertisement difficulties associated with a full 40 minute half, a short half time for commercials and then another 40 minutes half with virtually no stoppage time for commercials.  in baseball you get between innings and pitcher changes and in some cases, they'll call a commercial time out in pro games for american football.   I dont know what the answer is but its got to include ways around the advertisement issue- thats just the way the world works over here.  

spring time is baseball season, hockey playoff's, NBA playoffs, and even college basketball play-offs.  baseball goes through til playoff in october and is very demanding to cover- each game isnt just one game- theres a series of 3 games to cover usually on three consecutive days... they play sooooo many games!!  (like over 150 games a season)  im not sure when the best season would be- i guess summer??  but even just getting some kind of recognition of rugby at some point like the eagles playing in the world cup, would be a start.  i heard there were some difficulties with setanta having rites to the scores and them not even allowing ESPN to report of the scores or give highlights?  not sure what that was about or if it was just a rumor

spring traditionally is the men's club rugby biggest season and the womens national playoffs are usually in the fall.  In the summer we play 7's season.  (from about the end of may to mid august)

the key to growth will be in youth programs and highschool teams.  Soccer is never really on TV here either and every town has youth soccer teams.  it took a while for soccer to catch on but it spread like wildfire once it did.  first though we need to establish strong club teams in cities, which i think men have a good handle on.  women's teams are growing as well, but slower.  we also need to dispell the negative conotations associated with the sport... that ruggers are all drunks and violent and everyone gets hurt all the time.  no mother will ever allow a child to play a sport with that image.  the truth is- we're mostly professional real people that, ok like to drink maybe more than the average person, tend to get naked when we gather, and use rugby as an outlet for stress.  most of us are college eduated in the states because we found rugby in college.  

maybe some day we'll make that jump to pro teams... its a ways off though.  thanks for brainstorming for the US though!!

Answer 4

a us/canadian pro league is actually in the works, it would be another step up from the NA 4 competition but the idea is to give football players who have no shot of making the NFL somewhere to go and create a trickle down effect to where rugby becomes an alternative for young kids instead of playing football.  essentially bc it still is truly an amature sport here alot of people dont get into it bc there is no future after high school really, if kids grew up dreaming about making the pros in rugby that would make a huge difference in the culture of the sport here

Answer 5

It would take a HUGE sponsorship deal for that to happen and it would have to be between June-August.

Rugby Canada can't even fund a national competition.  They have the Rugby Canada Super League but that is divided into East and West because the players are responsible for paying their own travel expenses and it would cost far to much to have a nation wide tournament.  

If travel was paid for them it could be possible but that is a huge amount of money to fly teams all around North America.  When you take into account that June-August is the Summer when flights are most expensive and more people are travelling, it becomes even harder without the big bucks of a major sponsor.

The reason it would have to be Summer and not Spring is because the NBA and NHL seasons are in their playoff schedule until April/May and if you think your average Canadian is going to tune in to watch Rugby over Hockey... yeah that ain't happening!  Same thing getting your average yank to miss an NBA game.

I think they have to go a bit smaller and improve both countries national leagues first.  Put all your resources into grass roots rugby.  It's into most High Schools in Canada so we need to push on and get it into Middle Schools and Elementaries.  Once it's burrowed its way in there, you'll have players and parents hooked and interested, then you need to help local rugby clubs establish themselves so they can organise age group club games for the kids in the summer when they are out of school.  

That should help the major problem of losing close to 90% of the school grade players once they graduate and you can move on to the Provincial level which is where your idea would be fantastic.  Having more players registered and playing will bring in more money and make the idea of a tournament easier to sell to sponsors.  Then maybe an annual tournament between the best 2-4 teams in each country could lead into a real North American Super League!

It's a great idea and I think it will definately happen but it is a long way away IMO... maybe 20 years unless they start immediately and aggresively... and I dont see the IRB offering any help!!!