Major League Rugby has secured a two-year broadcast deal with CBS Sports Network to air 13 games annually starting with its inaugural '18 season. MLR will launch in April with a seven-team league, playing a 10-week schedule in the 15-man rugby union version of the sport. The charter teams in the single-entity league will be Austin; Glendale, Colo.; Houston; New Orleans; Salt Lake City; San Diego; and Seattle. The league is the creation of several amateur rugby clubs along with as-yet-unnamed capital partners. CBSSN is committed to one “Game of the Week” feature on 10 regular-season Saturdays, two semifinals and the championship game. With one of the seven teams on a bye each week, that leaves two other games weekly (20 total) for RSNs and a streaming deal league execs still hope to sign. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but MLR retains part of the advertising inventory and will pay for production, MLR’s media and sponsorship consultant Michael Jaquet said. CBSSN has committed promotional resources. CBS Sports Exec VP/Programming Dan Weinberg said the net wants to claim a bigger stake in rugby, which to date has been limited to a few one-off events on CBS platforms. “We really like the sport; we’re believers in the sport,” he said. "We think it showcases athletes in a unique way, with power and speed. The league is terrific and we’re pleased to be the primary partner." CBSSN is distributed to 57 million households and is not rated.
