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US Professional Rugby League Coming Soon!!

Evil Homer

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
7,178
American are very insular and if it doesn't relate to there country then they don't care about it.
Not as insular as some RL fans by the looks of it. I despair every time some new initiative is proposed and it gets shot down by negative fans who claim it 'will never work'. How do you expect a competition that hasn't even been officially announced yet, or a sport that nobody really knows anything about, to make the headlines of 'major national newspapers'? Get a grip.
 

Evil Homer

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
7,178
The franchise selections are interesting, especially Denver and Boston, and it will be even more interesting to see where the final 2 franchises are located. I guess LA was chosen because it is a big city (2nd or 3rd? in US)and gives the League "national" credentials with a presence in the union's most populous state, California. Also there is a large Aussie, Kiwi, Pcific Islands and Pom ex-pat communities in California, who may provide a viewing market and even player base for this franchise. I would think that it may be easier to attract Aussie and Kiwi professionals to relocate to LA than perhaps the East Coast. Denver, I think is a major airline transport hub, and I believe the city is a relative "stronghold" for the union code.
Boston is also a big? city and gives the League a wide spraed along the East Coast. So where wil the 2 final franchises come from? Presently the AMNRL "stronghold" is based in Connecticut and Philadelphia. I would think that Norwalk and New Haven Ct are perhaps a bit small to have their own franchise, although maybe a bit too far from New York to act a s feeders for the NY franchise. So maybe a franchise for Ct's largest? town, Hartford? I think the final franchise should be located in the nation's capital, with the DC Slayers and Fairfax Eagles to cat as the feeder teams. I know that the franchises do not necessarily have to be loated where the current AMNRL teams are located, but i would think taht those teams sholud at least be able to act as feeder teams, and to do so would need to be in reasonabkle proximity to the franchise team.
I really hope this gets off the ground, and if it does I'll be looking at getting over to Philly again to see the inaugural US National Rugby League Championship Final.
I would love to see a team in Hartford. It makes sense to me to target reasonable sized cities such as that that don't really have too much pro sport. There are hundreds of US cities with a population of over 100,000 and no real sports teams at all.
 

Poul

Juniors
Messages
729
Not as insular as some RL fans by the looks of it. I despair every time some new initiative is proposed and it gets shot down by negative fans who claim it 'will never work'. How do you expect a competition that hasn't even been officially announced yet, or a sport that nobody really knows anything about, to make the headlines of 'major national newspapers'? Get a grip.

Sometimes I feel :-k that some supposed :doubt: fans of Rugby League may in fact be "fifth columnists" for the Evil Empire :twisted: , and that they secretly hope that this exciting opportunity for expansion will fail. All of them will tell you, in no uncertain terms, why the venture will fail, but none of them [-X will ever offer any opinion on how it might possibly succeed.
I do think this project is ambitious, and I didn't forsee it happening at such an early stage in the development of Rugby League in the USA. However, I will do all that I can, and offer CONSTRUCTIVE opinion and/or criticism, if ultimately it is beneficial to Rugby League in the USA.
 

Kurt Angle

First Grade
Messages
9,649
I would love to see a team in Hartford. It makes sense to me to target reasonable sized cities such as that that don't really have too much pro sport. There are hundreds of US cities with a population of over 100,000 and no real sports teams at all.

To be honest, I'd rather see that model.

A big RL comp in the US will create another imbalance. With its size market, it'd be fine to have 5,000 crowds along side it being a (relative to ours) highly paid Cable TV filler.

The appeal is, some people don't want to move away from their town, away from family and friends.

These towns will no pro-sport teams can have good penetration into schools and the like, with the game of RL being viewed as complimentary to sporting enjoyment along side the big city NFL and NBA side, rather than competition.
 

Poul

Juniors
Messages
729
The return of the Boston Braves?

The "new" Boston team in the AMNRL will be called Boston XIIIs RLFC, but the Boston franchise in the USNRL may well (I would think most likely) have a different name. Of all the franchises, I would think that perhaps only Jacksonville would be likely to retain their AMNRL moniker in the USNRL competition. I think that the competition organisers would have looked at team names, and have decided that for engagement with the American sports fans, especially for television, that "American" names would be more marketable.
 

nadera78

Juniors
Messages
2,233
I hope it is a resounding success. Tough nut crack the US market, but definitely worth a shot.

No doubt there will be plenty of people death riding this and, as usual, the majority of them will be from within Rugby League. It is quite sad how so many incredibly selfish people running this great game of ours have stunted its growth. Criminal if you ask me.

Anyway, all the best to those waving the Rugby League flag in US!

That's the truth of it. There are some incredibly unqualified people within the game that have made a very nice career out of RL, earning money and enjoying power and influence that they would never get anywhere else. They jealously protect their own positions, regardless of the damage it does to the game as a whole. They are the reason we are a million miles from achieving, or even approaching, our full potential.

Good luck to the people behind this move. He who dares.....
 

welshmagpie

Juniors
Messages
513
i know it may have little to zero RL competition there, but id like to see a Franchise in teh MidWest..

Minnesotta, St Louis, Cleveland, Chicago somehwere around there.
 

c_eagle

Juniors
Messages
1,972
Does anyone have any information on the new Boston AMNRL team? I'm studying in Boston atm and would love to be involved in some way.
 

skrabsta

Juniors
Messages
67
The "new" Boston team in the AMNRL will be called Boston XIIIs RLFC, but the Boston franchise in the USNRL may well (I would think most likely) have a different name. Of all the franchises, I would think that perhaps only Jacksonville would be likely to retain their AMNRL moniker in the USNRL competition. I think that the competition organisers would have looked at team names, and have decided that for engagement with the American sports fans, especially for television, that "American" names would be more marketable.

From the Jaxaxe site ( my italics )

The Axemen have been invited to secure a team in the planned 2010 Professional US National Rugby League Competition and at this stage we are looking at the business plan and analyzing the details that we have been provided with.
We are starting the initial process of identifying potential investors, corporations and organizations in an effort to secure the financial backing that would see us granted a franchise and make the City of Jacksonville one of only eight in the inaugural season.
Although we do not have full details of the plan at this stage we are excited at the possibility the this venture will be full professional Rugby League played in the USA and that we have been invited to be one of the operators. We believe that Television and other associated exposure such as a potential reality series could be included and we will release this information as it is confirmed.
We wish to make it clear that if we are successful the team will operate under the Jacksonville Axemen banner in both the Professional and AMNRL competitions with the current team acting as a "feeder" or "player development" team that will support the professional team.
We are NOT taking expressions of interest from potential players at this time and would ask that players from both the USA and other countries direct any Professional Competition questions to the NRLUS directly at their website.
Any interested investment questions should be directed to Spinner Howland via e-mail at spinner@jaxaxe.com
 

Big Picture

Juniors
Messages
266
I would love to see a team in Hartford. It makes sense to me to target reasonable sized cities such as that that don't really have too much pro sport. There are hundreds of US cities with a population of over 100,000 and no real sports teams at all.
I doubt NBC is interested in having teams in cities as small as 100,000 people. Big cities will draw more viewers.
 

Poul

Juniors
Messages
729
Well, all of this may be speculation, but this thread has certainly piqued the interest of members, with well over 100 replies, and in excess of 5 thousand viewings, making it the most accessed thread EVER in this subforum's history. I think this gives an indication of how important a professional Rugby League competition in the USA is viewed by International Rugby League fans.

Well, in less than a week this thread has doubled the number of posts and with well over 10,000 views it has become the most popular thread EVER in League Unlimited's International forums :crazy:
 

miguel de cervantes

First Grade
Messages
7,468
Although we do not have full details of the plan at this stage we are excited at the possibility the this venture will be full professional Rugby League played in the USA and that we have been invited to be one of the operators.

So not even the head honchos of the existing clubs of the AMNRL know exactly what is happening?

This is quite amazing...or a complete joke, one of the two.
 

tcc_dc

Juniors
Messages
84
So not even the head honchos of the existing clubs of the AMNRL know exactly what is happening?

This is quite amazing...or a complete joke, one of the two.

Last night an e-mail was sent out with some information...so take this for what you will..

Inaugral Draft - Nov 7
NRL Kickoff - Mar 12, 2010
Championship - July 4, 2010 - Philadelphia


Pre-Draft Camp - October
Reality Series Comings
TV Deal to be announced...

Cheers...

tcc
 
Messages
14,139
The governing body might be keeping things from the clubs to some degree for a reason. A] they don't want it leaked, and it would be. and B] they might not need to know yet. I'd say people like Spinner probably know a fair bit but are still awaiting some details, like we are. The fact that the TV series seems to be a done deal is great and also indicates that a TV deal must be pretty much done as well.
 

coach

Guest
Messages
1,431
Last night an e-mail was sent out with some information...so take this for what you will..

Inaugral Draft - Nov 7
NRL Kickoff - Mar 12, 2010
Championship - July 4, 2010 - Philadelphia


Pre-Draft Camp - October
Reality Series Comings
TV Deal to be announced...

Cheers...

tcc

Draft?
 

miguel de cervantes

First Grade
Messages
7,468
Is it just me or does anyone else think that the idea of a reality TV series covering the setup of the comp, the players, the games etc is incredibly clever?

It is not like RL admin to come up with such an idea.
 

Poul

Juniors
Messages
729
Is it just me or does anyone else think that the idea of a reality TV series covering the setup of the comp, the players, the games etc is incredibly clever?

It is not like RL admin to come up with such an idea.

I think it is a great idea to launch the competition in the American market.
I doubt that it is RL administrators who have come up with this idea. I'd reckon it is more likely to have been proposed by the media partners. If television is going to take Rugby League on board then they will want to be able to have some guage of its possible success (i.e. ratings). I believe that it is Quaker Media who are the production company behind the proposed reality TV series. I can't wait to see it :cool:
 

tcc_dc

Juniors
Messages
84

Where the players are selected for each team...I guess after this you will have a good idea about who will play for each team....

2009 NATIONAL TRYOUTS
[FONT=Verdana,Verdana][FONT=Verdana,Verdana]
A series of tryouts open to all athletes, local and foreign, will be held in selected locations around the country. Registration information and locations will be announced soon. Players will be selected from each tryout to attend the NRL Pre-Draft Camp for final evaluation to enter the inaugural NRL Draft. 176 players will be selected for 8 professional teams with 22 man fulltime playing rosters.

Cheers...

tcc​
[/FONT]
[/FONT]
 
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