Rugby New York will host the Major League Rugby Championship game at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey on Saturday. Regardless of the outcome, the city of Seattle, nearly 3,000 miles away, will be celebrating.
The mayor, Bruce A. Harrell, joined other local leaders to explain June 25 Seattle Seawolves Community Pride Day, in recognition of the two-time champions reaching a third MLR final in five seasons. (Four completed, lost to Covid in 2020.)
An official proclamation recognized “deep connection to our community” and “strong, positive role models for Seattle’s young people.” The mayor also praised “one of the most passionate and vibrant fanbases in the league and beyond.”
A Major League Soccer venue, Red Bull can accommodate 25,000 fans of all passions. New York sold out JFK Stadium in Hoboken this year, but it only seats 1,500. After defeating the New England Free Jacks in the Eastern Championship Game, they had less than a week to sell tickets to the finals. The game will be televised on Fox Sports 1 in the US and online worldwide. MLR sets are growing but small; a good looking showpiece would come in handy.
George Killebrew, the MLR commissioner, told the Guardian: “Having your final exams in Los Angeles or New York is the biggest stage you can stand on. So last year we had the finals at the LA Coliseum and this year we had the finals at the Red Bull Arena. They want to be big on the coasts.
“We housed about 9,000 in the Colosseum [to see LA beat Atlanta]. Here in New York there is a much shorter window of opportunity. So I think… 5,000 would be great. When configuring the stadium, they focus on the areas visible to the camera. If we can fill those up a bit, I think we’ll have a good day.”
MLR is forever in the showcase trying to prove itself to American sports fans, rugby fans around the world and now World Rugby itself. In May, the governing body placed a big bet and announced the 2031 and 33 US World Championships.
That was seen as a big boost for MLR, but things haven’t been smooth sailing since then. Just before the playoffs, the league announced the disqualifications of the Austin Gilgronis and LA Giltinis, two teams owned by Australian entrepreneur Adam Gilchrist and named after cocktails named after him.
LA was champions last year, Austin is Best in the West this time. Fans were frustrated by MLR’s silence on why the teams were disqualified. Finally a expression said Austin failed to cooperate in a salary cap investigation and that LA “enacted conduct that is considered detrimental to the league.” Nothing has been said by anyone since then.
Killebrew said: “I can’t comment on the records for obvious reasons. One day, when we can tell the story, it will be a good one. But right now we can’t really say much.
“By the way, I hate that because the fans earn more. They deserve clarity and need to know if they want to follow this league.
“We monitored social media and everything and there were a few gripes but most just moved on and now we’re in the finals with two other teams.”
New York finished the regular season 11&5 behind Atlanta’s Free Jacks and Rugby ATL. Then they both kicked them away from home. Seattle went 9&7 while Austin was 12&4 and LA 11&5, but the disqualifications happened and the Seawolves edged out the Houston SaberCats, coached by Heyneke Meyer, who was once from South Africa, to win the championship game.
At Red Bull, a 12pm ET kick-off will offer challenges. For one, the heat in the Harrison, NJ field will be north of 85F or 30C. But the early kick-off also gives European viewers a chance to watch at tea-time.
Now that MLR is five years old, Killebrew said, “they’re going to see better quality of play, better quality of refereeing, better quality of coaching. That’s kind of been the theme for the last few years. We’re not where we want to be yet, but we’re on the right track.”
He also said that long-rumored expansion teams in Chicago and St. Louis “are close, but I’m not sure they’ll make the ’23 finish line,” though in Chicago’s case, an MLS-level venue, the SeatGeek Stadium, vacant after fire, switched to Soldier Field.
The lot of an expansion team is never easy. The Dallas Jackals went winless that year. Killebrew said: “The team hotel caught fire and the bus collapsed and everything that could go wrong did.
“Dallas has been a bit of a snakebite, but it’s in our best interest that nobody goes 0&16 and nobody goes 16&0. We want everyone to win. If everyone was 8&8 I would be happy. Right? So we get it. We need to work with Dallas to get better.”
Killebrew said future seasons may see a previously named championship venue giving time to sell tickets and travel, DC, LA and Boston among potential venues.
Rugby New York Managing Director Ric Salizzo and his staff are currently working to host rugby at Red Bull. Saracens and London Irish have played an English Premiership game there. The USA played against Ireland. This week, Salizzo and others attended a New York derby in the US Open Cup.
The CEO has received support from his native New Zealand. He said: “I get inundated with messages from all kinds of people. For example right after our game [in New England]I got a message from Wayne Smith [a former All Black and All Blacks coach] say we had a great game. And Razor Robertson [Scott, coach of the Super Rugby champion Crusaders]. ‘The game was really fun. Boys are fine.’”
It helps that New York can field Waisake Naholo and Nehe Milner-Skudder, the 2015 All Black Backs World Cup champions, and Andy Ellis, scrum half for the 2011 All Black Champions. In a team that relies on Southern Hemisphere skills Samoa wing Ed Fidow also stands out.
Seattle also has talent from the southern hemisphere, led by their dangerous Samoan fly-half AJ Alatimu. But promising North American players will also appear in the finals, including for New York Ben Bonasso, a dynamic forward in the back five, Kaleb Geiger, a hooker converted from baseball and soccer, and Andrew Coe, a Canadian lightning wing. Seattle has the mighty Samu Manoa, once a star five forward in Northampton and Toulon.
Next month, the US Eagles have two games to play against Chile to qualify for next year’s World Cup in France. For the American internationals from Seattle and New York, the MLR final will also be a kind of test.
Salizzo said: “Interest is growing. I think the rugby world will be fascinated to see what America is doing with the game.”