Former bond trader Douglas Schoninger has a "secret ambition" to supplant the NFL with his new Pro Rugby Organization, which began in April, according to Chip Brown of the N.Y. TIMES MAGAZINE. He said, “The NFL is on top right now, and rugby is at the bottom. But things always look better at the top and worse at the bottom than they really are.” Brown notes Schoninger has "been pleasantly surprised by the interest in the league in Europe; PRO Rugby stats were being published in French newspapers." Schoninger plans to "add more teams, but if he didn’t, he could see the league almost breaking even next year." Schoninger said, “If I fail, it’s not the money I’ve spent -- well, it’s the money I’ve spent, but it’s also that I was wrong. Wrong about the support from the rugby community. Wrong about the time being right." Schoninger in '14 attended a match in Chicago featuring the U.S. national team and New Zealand’s All Blacks. He said, "There were 61,500 people at Soldier Field, the largest rugby crowd in American history. That was the moment things changed for me. I realized that if great teams wanted to play here, and you could fill Soldier Field, you could do well building a professional league.” Brown notes salaries range from $20,000-35,000, which "would be on a par with other second-tier professional sports vying for sunlight in the shadow of the NFL," while expenses for each team would "run to about" $1.5M per year. Schoninger "didn’t have, or want, partners, and would be financing everything himself the first year." The USA Rugby BOD in April '15, which has considered many proposals over the years, "agreed to sanction Schoninger’s plan" (N.Y. TIMES MAGAZINE, 6/19 issue).
