USA Rugby will issue a sanction to Major League Rugby in the coming days, officially authorizing the latest attempt to build a sustainable professional presence for the sport in the U.S. just weeks before it starts play.
But the governing body is moving forward with the startup while it still faces a threatened lawsuit from Doug Schoninger, the New York investor who in 2016 launched the failed PRO Rugby league under a prior sanction. He alleges USA Rugby started working with MLR and other potential competitors long before his deal ended earlier this year, causing the failure of his league.
Leagues are free to operate without a sanction, but it effectively grants a monopoly on elite talent. Under World Rugby rules, players who currently play for sanctioned clubs or national teams can be punished for participating in nonsanctioned competitions.
“We’re working hand in glove with USA Rugby,” said MLR Commissioner Dean Howes. “We believe they’re going to be just wonderful partners for us. … We are going through that process of finalizing that sanctioning, but we feel very comfortable with where we are.”
USA Rugby CEO Dan Payne said he expects to execute a sanctioning agreement before MLR kicks off April 21. Payne said the league, which will launch with seven teams playing a 10-week season before a four-team playoff, will be a major step forward in marketing the game in those MLR cities.
“We want to support all of the investors that are investing in those games, and we’re trying to do all we can to ensure success for the league as a whole,” Payne said. “Each franchise understands that they’re not just in the rugby business, they’re in the rugby market development business.”
MLR has been in the market for more than a year, securing a kit deal with Australian apparel brand XBlades, and distribution deals with CBS Sports Network and ESPN.
But it does not yet have the USA Rugby signoff because, in part, Schoninger’s exclusive rights only recently expired. PRO Rugby’s single season ended in 2016, and since then, Schoninger has lost several legal judgments over nonpayment to employees.
Schoninger says he can prove in court that USA Rugby began to undermine his exclusive rights to pro 15-man rugby before his sanctioning deal expired. As of March 27, he had not filed suit.
“They conveyed to me an exclusive sanctioning agreement, and they worked on the erosion of exclusivity basically right away, even before I signed the agreement, behind my back,” Schoninger said.
Separately, MLR announced that existing amateur clubs in Dallas and New York will join the league in 2019. The charter league members are Austin, Texas; New Orleans; Glendale, Colo.; Seattle; Salt Lake City; San Diego; and Houston. It’s a single-entity league owned by those local rugby clubs and outside investors. League headquarters are in Salt Lake City.
