Latest news with #MiamiSharks
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Rugby in US suffers another blow as second team in a week exits MLR
Major League Rugby was reduced to eight teams on Wednesday by the withdrawal of the Miami Sharks, just a week after a founding team quit the competition and two California teams merged. Miami and MLR did not immediately comment but multiple league sources confirmed that the Sharks' withdrawal after two years in the league was finalized on Tuesday. The Guardian understands that a request to withdraw for 2026 before a potential return in 2027 was rejected by team owners – NOLA Gold, the team that announced its exit last week, having sought a similar arrangement. NOLA and Miami could reapply to play in 2027, the Guardian was told. Last week, after NOLA's exit and the merger of San Diego Legion and RFC LA, it was widely reported that the league could yet fall to just seven teams, the number that kicked off the competition in 2018. Utah Warriors, like NOLA and San Diego founding MLR members, are seeking new investment – a process CEO Kimball Kjar last week told the Guardian was 'a heavy lift' but going well. Kjar expressed confidence in Utah continuing to play. MLR commissioner Nic Benson said he thought the league could continue if reduced to just seven teams. News of Miami's exit will concern executives at World Rugby, which has placed the men's World Cup in the US in 2031, followed by the women's event in 2033. Last month, speaking to reporters in Washington DC, World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin said the governing body 'believed … there needs to be a domestic professional league in the US that's growing and thriving [and] we want MLR to be that'. Gilpin also indicated an openness to talks with international interests seeking to plant teams on US soil, including Super Rugby, the United Rugby Championship and the mooted R360 breakaway project. On Wednesday, the Guardian sought comment from Benson, Miami CEO Milagros Cubelli, and players' representatives. Miami entered MLR in 2024 and reached the playoffs for the first time this year, losing the Eastern Conference Semi-Final to New England Free Jacks, who went on to win their third successive title. There was an immediate irony in news of Miami's MLR exit. Just two days earlier, Cubelli — the sister of Miami and Argentina scrum-half Tomas Cubelli — was named MLR Major League Rugby Executive of the Year. In comments released by the league on Monday, Cubelli said: 'We are a new team at a starting level, so you have to be smart in how you use your resources. 'I have a strong background in entertainment and production, so I think I brought this experience to the Sharks to have a good gameday experience and an interesting, attractive brand. I'm proud and very happy. And I love to win.' Cubelli also said sponsorship was 'one of the big successes of 2025', as the Sharks 'grew sponsorship revenue to almost 20%' 'There's a professional rugby team in Miami that is doing things well, that is eager to share the fun of this sport with the people in the community,' she added. 'The doors are wide open.' On Wednesday afternoon, the Miami website still advertised 'Season 2026' as 'Coming Soon'. 'Come enjoy the Sharks experience,' it said. Martin Pengelly writes on Substack at The National Maul, on rugby in the US.
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Pretty dark right now': Major League Rugby reels as two more teams face funding crunch
Major League Rugby has endured a tough week with a merger and a withdrawal reducing the competition to nine teams, but the US men's professional rugby union competition could yet fall to just seven entrants if two more teams fail to raise new funds, the Guardian learned. The merger of the San Diego Legion and RFC Los Angeles and the exit of the NOLA Gold were announced on Wednesday. As fans digested that news, multiple league sources told the Guardian the Utah Warriors (like San Diego and NOLA a founding team in 2018) and the Miami Sharks, an expansion team in 2024, were seeking new funding. Sources differed on the likelihood of funding being secured. Kimball Kjar, a former US Eagles scrum-half now Utah chief executive, said: 'Utah Warriors are a founding member of Major League Rugby. We set out to build something special, and we're still committed to that vision of creating top-end professional rugby in North America. 'We still believe in that vision, and we're working aggressively to continue on with supporting our partners in Major League Rugby.' Describing a 'hefty financial lift', Kjar said Utah's 'ownership group has made it clear that they want to bring on additional partners and people that can continue to help accelerate and build and grow in the way that we intend to grow'. Milagros Cubelli, the Miami CEO, could not be reached for comment. In the MLR season just completed, the Warriors and Sharks reached the play-offs for the first time. In the Championship Game, in Providence, Rhode Island, the New England Free Jacks beat the Houston SaberCats for a third successive title. Of the seven teams that kicked off MLR in 2018, only Houston, Utah and the twice-champion Seattle Seawolves remain. San Diego, three times finalists, are now part of the California Legion. Asked if MLR could continue if shrunk back to seven teams, Commissioner Nic Benson told the Guardian: 'I think so. If you have the right seven teams, a strong core, my answer today is yes.' Benson added: 'I think the reality of this is, this is hard. It's a labor of love and belief for a lot of people that we can build exceptional value in this sport. I still believe that, and I think a lot of the owners still believe that if we get this right, this is viable and will be good for the sport.' The MLR Players Association said it was working with players affected by the closure and merger, 'to provide clarity on next steps and equitable solutions' and to 'ensure that players are properly taken care of'. MLR is far from alone in facing financial headwinds: even in England, the Gallagher Premiership lost three teams in 2022-23 and now appears narrowly to have avoided reducing to nine entrants, a takeover saving Newcastle. News from MLR may nonetheless prompt concern at World Rugby, less than two weeks after it staged an international doubleheader in Washington DC, heralding concerted investment in the run-up to US World Cups in 2031 (men) and 2033 (women). Super Rugby (Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific), the United Rugby Championship (Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Italy and South Africa) and R360, a mooted transnational competition fronted by the former England center Mike Tindall, are all reported to be eyeing US ventures. World Rugby did not respond to a request for comment on MLR from its chief executive, Alan Gilpin. But in DC in mid-July, Gilpin told the Guardian World Rugby had 'always believed … there needs to be a domestic professional league in the US that's growing and thriving [and] we want MLR to be that … that collection of owners, whether we think they're doing things right or wrong, are putting $70 million a year in, of their own money. That's not to be dismissed. And so we want MLR to be successful. 'But there's no doubt that both in terms of providing the best quality product to fans in this market and providing the best opportunities for players to progress in the US … some form of cross-border competition, whether that's Super Rugby Pacific, URC, or the other things that have been talked about, could be a really good addition. 'But it needs to be not killing [MLR] in the way that happens … So we've been in some of those conversations, which I think is positive again.' World Rugby, Gilpin said, 'wants to be helpful, if it can help invest in the structure of the game … our conversation with anybody is, 'We welcome the investment but you've got to come in and work with us, with existing stakeholders, to make that sustainable.'' On Thursday, Kjar of Utah Warriors likened MLR to a successful US league that endured turbulent beginnings, telling the Guardian: 'MLR is really no different from where Major League Soccer was … in 2002 to 2003, where there's some some hard questions that are being asked, and certain teams and certain ownership groups are … able to provide the best answers to those questions and we feel pretty confident in our situation and what we're trying to do. 'We're above all confident in what MLR is, and what our partners have built together.'' Elsewhere, a current MLR team owner, speaking on condition of anonymity, backed Benson in saying the league could continue even if reduced to seven teams. 'The original number was seven,' the owner said, 'so the league functioned with seven. For some reason, people pick that as the demarcation line, like, 'Below eight probably means we're not viable.' We want to play. 'Yeah, there's a couple question marks. One of the teams that was a question mark feels they've got funding. 'What did Winston Churchill say? 'It's always darkest before dawn.' I mean, it's pretty dark right now. I will say there's a lot of introspection, and questioning.' Martin Pengelly writes on Substack at The National Maul, on rugby in the US.
The Guardian
01-08-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
‘Pretty dark right now': Major League Rugby reels as two more teams face funding crunch
Major League Rugby has endured a tough week with a merger and a withdrawal reducing the competition to nine teams, but the US men's professional rugby union competition could yet fall to just seven entrants if two more teams fail to raise new funds, the Guardian learned. The merger of the San Diego Legion and RFC Los Angeles and the exit of the NOLA Gold were announced on Wednesday. As fans digested that news, multiple league sources told the Guardian the Utah Warriors (like San Diego and NOLA a founding team in 2018) and the Miami Sharks, an expansion team in 2024, were seeking new funding. Sources differed on the likelihood of funding being secured. Kimball Kjar, a former US Eagles scrum-half now Utah chief executive, said: 'Utah Warriors are a founding member of Major League Rugby. We set out to build something special, and we're still committed to that vision of creating top-end professional rugby in North America. 'We still believe in that vision, and we're working aggressively to continue on with supporting our partners in Major League Rugby.' Describing a 'hefty financial lift', Kjar said Utah's 'ownership group has made it clear that they want to bring on additional partners and people that can continue to help accelerate and build and grow in the way that we intend to grow'. Milagros Cubelli, the Miami CEO, could not be reached for comment. In the MLR season just completed, the Warriors and Sharks reached the play-offs for the first time. In the Championship Game, in Providence, Rhode Island, the New England Free Jacks beat the Houston SaberCats for a third successive title. Of the seven teams that kicked off MLR in 2018, only Houston, Utah and the twice-champion Seattle Seawolves remain. San Diego, three times finalists, are now part of the California Legion. Asked if MLR could continue if shrunk back to seven teams, Commissioner Nic Benson told the Guardian: 'I think so. If you have the right seven teams, a strong core, my answer today is yes.' Benson added: 'I think the reality of this is, this is hard. It's a labor of love and belief for a lot of people that we can build exceptional value in this sport. I still believe that, and I think a lot of the owners still believe that if we get this right, this is viable and will be good for the sport.' The MLR Players Association said it was working with players affected by the closure and merger, 'to provide clarity on next steps and equitable solutions' and to 'ensure that players are properly taken care of'. MLR is far from alone in facing financial headwinds: even in England, the Gallagher Premiership lost three teams in 2022-23 and now appears narrowly to have avoided reducing to nine entrants, a takeover saving Newcastle. News from MLR may nonetheless prompt concern at World Rugby, less than two weeks after it staged an international doubleheader in Washington DC, heralding concerted investment in the run-up to US World Cups in 2031 (men) and 2033 (women). Super Rugby (Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific), the United Rugby Championship (Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Italy and South Africa) and R360, a mooted transnational competition fronted by the former England center Mike Tindall, are all reported to be eyeing US ventures. World Rugby did not respond to a request for comment on MLR from its chief executive, Alan Gilpin. But in DC in mid-July, Gilpin told the Guardian World Rugby had 'always believed … there needs to be a domestic professional league in the US that's growing and thriving [and] we want MLR to be that … that collection of owners, whether we think they're doing things right or wrong, are putting $70 million a year in, of their own money. That's not to be dismissed. And so we want MLR to be successful. 'But there's no doubt that both in terms of providing the best quality product to fans in this market and providing the best opportunities for players to progress in the US … some form of cross-border competition, whether that's Super Rugby Pacific, URC, or the other things that have been talked about, could be a really good addition. 'But it needs to be not killing [MLR] in the way that happens … So we've been in some of those conversations, which I think is positive again.' World Rugby, Gilpin said, 'wants to be helpful, if it can help invest in the structure of the game … our conversation with anybody is, 'We welcome the investment but you've got to come in and work with us, with existing stakeholders, to make that sustainable.'' On Thursday, Kjar of Utah Warriors likened MLR to a successful US league that endured turbulent beginnings, telling the Guardian: 'MLR is really no different from where Major League Soccer was … in 2002 to 2003, where there's some some hard questions that are being asked, and certain teams and certain ownership groups are … able to provide the best answers to those questions and we feel pretty confident in our situation and what we're trying to do. 'We're above all confident in what MLR is, and what our partners have built together.'' Elsewhere, a current MLR team owner, speaking on condition of anonymity, backed Benson in saying the league could continue even if reduced to seven teams. 'The original number was seven,' the owner said, 'so the league functioned with seven. For some reason, people pick that as the demarcation line, like, 'Below eight probably means we're not viable.' We want to play. 'Yeah, there's a couple question marks. One of the teams that was a question mark feels they've got funding. 'What did Winston Churchill say? 'It's always darkest before dawn.' I mean, it's pretty dark right now. I will say there's a lot of introspection, and questioning.' Martin Pengelly writes on Substack at The National Maul, on rugby in the US.
CBS News
17-02-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Miami Sharks kick off second rugby season
MIAMI - With thousands of fans in the stands, the Miami Sharks kicked off their second season at the Florida Blue Training Center on Saturday. It brought a warm feeling to South African native Darren Henn, who grew up watching and playing the sport back home. "I get a lot of nostalgia from it," Henn said. "Just having rugby playing over here is one of the highlights of my life right now. If I'm in town, I will not be missing a game." While Sharks fans are made up of people across the globe, some didn't have to travel very far, like local fan Toby Lawrence. A former rugby player at the University of Florida, Lawrence is retired now. Staying close to the game though, he's giving others a chance to start young by coaching a local youth team. "It's a game you can play for life, you can travel around the whole world," Lawrence explained. "Turn up to a rugby club anywhere in the world, you have 15 friends." "It's really fun to not only play but watch," said Tommy Sharpe, a Sharks fan who plays for the U14 youth rugby team in Fort Lauderdale. "It's high contact, so it's fun." "I am a football coach and I never played this sport before but quickly realized how well football players and athletes in general fit into the rugby culture," Tommy's father TJ said. "[The fan growth is] slow but strong and we are hoping that we can spread the word of rugby around here." Sebastian Clark, who also plays for the U14 said he already prefers rugby over American football.
