The Seattle Seawolves drew standing-room-only crowds to their 4,500-seat stadium in Tukwila, Wash.MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY
The Seattle Seawolves beat the Glendale (Colo.) Raptors on Saturday at Torero Stadium to win the inaugural Major League Rugby title, and the championship game marked the "conclusion of the first season that went into planning only 14 months ago," according to Tod Leonard of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The league this season got an "enormous welcome in suburban Seattle, where the Seawolves drew standing-room-only crowds to their 4,500-seat stadium in Tukwila." There were "more tepid responses in other markets, such as San Diego, where the Legion’s announced attendance ranged from 1,500 to 3,000." MLR Commissioner Dean Howes said, "The things that really showed what we could do this year are also the areas that we need to keep our focus on and continue to improve." Howes said that he held "reasonable expectations in areas such as TV ratings and revenues, while keeping in mind a broader, long-term view of the future." With expansion plans for possibly 10 teams and a longer schedule in the works for '19, the league "apparently won’t disappear [as] quickly" as its '16 predecessor, PRO Rugby. The model for MLR "remains MLS, which took many years to gain the kind of professional foothold that rugby is only beginning to get in America" (SANDIEGOUNIONTRIBUNE.com, 7/6).
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE: Howes said that Season 2 is "planned to start on or around" Jan. 26, the weekend before the Super Bowl. The GUARDIAN's Martin Pengelly notes that means "more games and, if all goes according to plan, more teams." The league includes teams in N.Y., Toronto and L.A., with a team based in DC announced for '20, while Dallas "hopes to join then too." Boston also is being "discussed." Sources said that there is "concern that such expansion will place pressure on the American talent pool." Howes said of MLR's centralized structure, which is similar to MLS, "We can control who gets the elite players and make sure that stays balanced. We are financially at the level that we have pulled our teams for the most part from local areas. ... I don’t think 10 teams or even 12 teams will dilute the player pool" (GUARDIAN.com, 7/8).
