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'The Hollywood of rugby': Meet the US investors planning to launch the world's biggest rugby competition
Some of rugby’s global stars could soon find themselves playing in the United States if a group of American investors deliver on their word of creating a new league that has been labelled “the Hollywood” of the sport.
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The National Rugby Football League, which has links to the NFL, is set to be launched in two years’ time, with a £7 million (US$8.7m) salary cap equal to that of the Premiership in England.
With plans for an eight-team competition to be held during the NFL off-season between April and July, the proposed league has been likened to that of cricket’s glamorous Indian Premier League.
“Our ambition is to be the biggest league in the world,” Michael Clements, the NRFL commissioner, told The Telegraph.
In pursuit of achieving that, Clements wants to attract the game’s biggest names to his prospective competition.
“Our goal is to put the best product on the pitch so we will need some of the best athletes, whether or not they are the names you mentioned I can’t say,” he said when asked if the likes of two-time World Rugby player of the year Beauden Barrett and England star Maro Itoje were on his hitlist.
Leading rugby agent Hilton Houghton, who represents World Cup-winning Springboks captain Siya Kolisi among others, doubled down on Clements’ comments after being courted by the NRFL.
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“They want to make it the Hollywood of rugby,” Houghton told The Telegraph.
“This won’t be a dumping ground for international players. It will be more like the IPL players, where you bring a Ben Stokes or AB de Villiers as your sprinkling of stardust on top of largely domestic squads.”
Clements believes that 16-game season would be an attractive alternative for players on either side of the globe.
Whether it’s through Europe’s lengthy club competitions or a stint in Super Rugby followed by an extensive international calendar, players would face a far less arduous schedule should they commit to the NRFL.
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“Players will be paid on par with the big leagues but, making a comparison with the Premiership, they will play half the games,” Clements said.
“Playing half the amount of game time allows the recovery and recuperation and helps the welfare of the player. When you are done playing, you can have a productive life and you are not beat up.”
Tweaks to the laws of the game would be made to “Americanise” the sport in a bid to appeal to the nation’s demographic, which Clements told The Telegraph would help put rugby in the shop window of the rich American sporting landscape.
“The question has to be asked: How can rugby be better positioned?” he said.
“When you look at the top valued sports properties in Forbes’ list, rugby is not there. Once it steps up from behind the curtain and is presented in the highest class fashion then we are going to raise the bar.”
There is already a professional rugby competition in the United States in the form of Major League Rugby, which was in its third season before the coronavirus outbreak forced its cancellation.
MLR had lured the services of some notable rugby figures for its 2020 campaign, included the likes of two-time World Cup-winning All Blacks centurion Ma’a Nonu and former France captain Mathieu Bastareaud.
However, that league would have to compete for attention and player availability against the NRFL should the latter competition get up and running by its slated start date of 2022.
Leading players in Australia are looking to give rugby in the country an injection of fresh air by proposing a radical new concept inspired by the NFL.https://t.co/m4XcSCy0nf
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 11, 2020
It isn’t the first time the NRFL has attempted to establish itself as a professional rugby league after Clements initially founded the organisation in 2014.
Over the course of nine months, the NRFL hosted two combines featuring over 130 athletes – including around 50 with NFL experience – in Minneapolis and Los Angeles.
Attempts to field a team or a competition fell flat, though, when an exhibition match in August 2015 between the Leicester Tigers and a composite side made up of players from the combines and international stars was scrapped after USA Rugby and World Rugby withheld sanctioning.
Another professional American rugby competition, PRO Rugby, failed to last beyond one season following its maiden campaign in 2016.
The six-team league, which featured players such as ex-All Blacks Mils Muliaina and Jamie Mackintosh, as well as former star USA Eagles wing Takudzwa Ngwenya, enjoyed a solitary season which finished with the Denver Stampede being crowned as inaugural champions.
The competition folded in 2017 amid financial turmoil, where players and executives claimed they had been left with unpaid salaries following disputes between the league and both USA Rugby and Rugby Canada.
Comments on RugbyPass
Next week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
11 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
3 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
26 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
3 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
3 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
11 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
26 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
2 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
5 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to commentsThanks for that Marshy, noticed you didn't say who is gonna win it. We know who ain't gonna win it - your Crusaders outfit. They've gone from having arguably the best Super Rugby first five ever, to having a clutch of rookies. Hurricanes all the way!
1 Go to commentsGeez you really have to question the NRLs ability to produce players of quality. Its pathetic. Dont the 25mil in Aus produce enough quality womens players. Sad.
1 Go to comments