Leaders on both sides of the ball hailed a new collective bargaining agreement between Major League Rugby and its players, the union chief welcoming “a new standard” for US professional men’s rugby after a traumatic off-season in which four teams exited MLR and two merged, leaving just six on the field.
“We are happy with where the talks landed,” United States Rugby Players Association executive director Chris Mattina, a former US Eagles wing, told the Guardian.
“It was a really good-faith negotiation with the league. We think this really sets a new standard. It increases the protections for players, but also stabilizes the league and sets it up for success.”
Graeme Bradbury, MLR’s co-president, formerly with the Dragons in Wales, said: “It’s a momentous occasion, it really is, to get to our first CBA … I think it gives us labor stability, and it sets ground standards for how we treat players.”
Speaking anonymously, another source close to negotiations said with a rueful laugh the CBA emerged from a situation best described as “a shitshow”. Both sides would probably agree that was an understatement. Between July and November last year, the league saw San Diego Legion and RFCLA merge while NOLA Gold, Miami Sharks, Houston Sabercats and Utah Warriors quit altogether. This week, all concerned were happy to herald progress, given how hardscrabble life in MLR can be.
In 2023, as MLR completed its fifth full season (2020 having been lost to Covid), players spoke frankly to the Guardian as it reported on the realities of life in the league.
“My first season [playing] with New York was on a 30- or 40-year-old high school football field that was hard as a rock,” said Nick Civetta, an Eagles second-row forward. “It took many ACLs and ankles, and helped dislocate my AC joint.”
Kyle Breytenbach, a South African-born lock who played for Austin and Houston, said: “I have a 20-month old daughter and I couldn’t provide for her as an MLR player. Every year we get to round 15 or 16 of the season, and internally my wife and I would start to bicker over where the next paycheck is coming from, how we are going to be insured.”
The new CBA addresses such concerns, including provisions bolstering rights for injured players and free agents, improved health and safety protections, and a $2,000 payment to each player in advance of the season.
In the spirit of a senior league source quoting former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel — “never waste a crisis” — MLR has refocused on US-eligible players. That comes to the cost of Canadians formerly classed as domestic but this week one source close to talks said the minimum wage for a young American player, covering pre-season, the 10-game regular season and play-offs, was now just shy of $17,000. Playing rugby in America has never been a get-rich-quick scheme. Nor is owning a team.
Under the new CBA, the union has the option to re-open talks after a season that kicks-off on 28 March, the California Legion facing Anthem RC of North Carolina, the World Rugby-backed team staffed by Americans that enters its third season looking for a first win.
Mattina, who played for the Austin Gilgronis (exited 2022), Rugby New York (exited 2023) and Chicago Hounds (still playing), said: “I think in this process, you’re always strategizing as soon as the first one is done. So we did have an economic reopener, if things change with the league, and getting more feedback on that as the players go through the season is going to be important.
“I think we’re just going to continue to monitor that and do what we did throughout this whole process, which was get the players’ feedback, understand where potential issues might lie, and take them to the league and see if we can figure something out.”
Bradbury cited earlier negotiations when he said: “If we look through how the CBA has been written compared to what we were doing in previous seasons, it’s not that far off the economics we were discussing and a couple of other key areas. I think a lot of the good work had already been done.
“We both had to cross the fence at times, so we probably came into some positions that made us uncomfortable, and the players had to do the same. But that’s the art of negotiation, and that’s the art of getting the CBA. So I think we’re in a good place … both sides have something they can work with and move forward, and we can focus on the season, on growing this sport.”
Bradbury trailed changes to how MLR presents rugby to US audiences, saying: “We’ve never had a problem getting people through the door for the first time. What we’ve had a problem with is getting people to stay and to understand what’s actually happening in the game, because it’s such a different game to what Americans are used to.
“You go to your average high-school football game and you see so much entertainment going on even at that level, and we need to sort of lean into that a lot better and explain what we’re doing and make it easier to understand … we’re going to be doing some subtle changes to kind of Americanize the way we put our game forward. We’re not going to be changing the rules or anything like that, but just the way we produce the games and talk to the audience is going to be noticeably different.”
As such remarks suggest, US-hosted World Cups in 2031 (men) and 2033 (women) loom ever larger. In the women’s game, the semi-pro Women’s Elite Rugby this week announced its season two schedule. On 2 May, the Boston Banshees and New York Exiles will kick-off a campaign moved from spring to summer, to fit with international play. Denver Onyx will defend their title.
Dr Jessica Hammond-Graf, WER co-founder and president, hailed a “defining moment” and said: “Some larger venues and growing fan bases in returning markets mean increased visibility for our athletes and teams. This season reflects our commitment to growing the professional game and creating meaningful opportunities for women’s rugby to thrive in the United States.”
The league also teased investment from a “Grammy winning artist”, as yet unnamed.
Also this week, USA Rugby announced three spring home games for the women’s Eagles. In the Pacific Four, the US will face New Zealand and World Cup runners-up Canada will face Australia in Sacramento on 11 April; on 17 April in Kansas City, the US will play Australia while Canada play New Zealand; and on 24 April the US and Canada will play in Chicago.
Alan Gilpin, World Rugby CEO, said: “The US is at the heart of our global strategy to grow the reach, visibility and impact ahead of men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups being hosted in the US. Partnering with our national federations and cities enthusiastically engaged in the host selection process, we are excited to be bringing some of the very best rugby content to sports fans in the US.”
