After concluding its fifth season, Major League Rugby released impressive numbers that point toward the continuing growth of the sport in North America.
The league and teams' social media following has risen by 21 percent in the last year, along with attendance which is up 40 percent, and at-home viewership which is up 65 percent.
"It was a great year," MLR Commissioner George Killebrew told KRLD. "We turned five years old and turned the corner on a lot of different metrics...This was kind of our first season without Covid hanging over our heads all the time and we had a big attendance growth, we had 75,000 new fans attend games across our league and so all in all it was a great year."
2022 marked the first season for the league's 13th team, the Dallas Jackals, while Rugby New York won their first championship - held at the Red Bull Arena and broadcast on FOX Sports.
Key to the league's upward trend has been its ability to turn games into more of an event - look no further than the NFL as a prime example of this.
"What we've really done a good job of in our 13 markets - we have 12 teams in the United States and one in Toronto, Canada - is really taking our games and our matches and turning them into more than just a rugby event," Killebrew said. "We're becoming more of an entertainment product with all of the things that North American sports look for when they attend sporting events live, whether it be in the NFL, the NBA, or the other big leagues. By doing so and making it more than just rugby, we're attracting new fans. So, you don't have to be a rugby aficionado to have a great time at one of our events, and people are bringing their friends, their families, and significant others, and exposing the sport to more people."
But while growth in the short-term has proved successful, in order to keep this momentum moving it's imperative the league reaches younger audiences and entices youngsters to give the sport a try. Especially with the Rugby World Cup now headed stateside.
"When the United States was awarded the 2031 Rugby World Cup for men and then the 2033 Rugby World Cup for women, that now gives us kind of an eight to 10-year runway to really grow the sport at the grassroots level," Killebrew said. "We know very well we have to have more kids participating in the sport, and with the awarding of a World Cup also comes funding to help us carry out that mantra."
A vital component to this "runway" is the MLR Draft - something Killebrew described as a "missing link" upon his arrival as Commissioner, following which he implemented the first of its kind back in 2020.
"There was no draft, so there was no pathway from youth, to academy, to collegiate, to professional," Killebrew said.
With the third annual draft set to take place in August, this year will see another 39 players hear their names called as their professional journeys begin.
These players will head to one of 13 teams currently in the league - but that could well change in the near future.
"At least once a week I'm having an expansion call of some sort," Killebrew said. "There's cities like, in the Midwest for example, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Chicago have all shown interest in putting groups together to join our league...There are several groups in South Florida that are trying to get ownership groups together to join our league. Cities like Las Vegas and Sacramento, Albuquerque New Mexico, Vancouver British Columbia, Honolulu Hawaii are all cities that we have had discussions with that are really trying to get their act together in order to join the league at some point."
A growing league with a clear set of goals in mind, listen below to hear more from our conversation with Killebrew:
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