USA team in Super Rugby Pacific is not the answer right now, but this is

If Super Rugby Pacific is already considering expanding the footprint of the competition into USA territory, it shows the administrators haven’t learnt the lessons that have only just been taught.

The competition just had to cut loose the bankrupt Melbourne Rebels a year ago because a team was based in an unsustainable market.

And before that, the hyper-dilution of the 2010s saw too many franchises included at the expense of quality. An inequitable conference system was devised to try and help the imbalance, but ultimately the competition suffered.

Super Rugby suffered for over a decade with tinkering, over-expansion, and then, ultimately, the disruption by the exodus of the South African teams, but has finally come through the fire, so to speak.

In 2025, the product is finally on the way up with a reduced playoff system, increased parity among the teams and workable time zones limiting the travel demands on the players.

The bottom-placed team, the Fijian Drua, can beat anyone in the competition, and they have knocked off the number one side. The difference between the Drua being in the top half of the ladder is razor thin.

The excitement levels are back to all-time highs due to the quality of the rugby and balanced competition structure.

To already be considering expansion in a non-traditional rugby market like the USA, risks taking Super Rugby a step backward.

The USA has been building its own pro league, the MLR, which has worked hard for a footprint across the US and growing organic fanbases. Expanding into the USA with a Super franchise is counter-productive, engaging in a turf war that will ultimately harm both.

Rugby has always looked at the United States, foolishly dreaming of dollar signs without grasping the enormity of going head-to-head with the entrenched sports market that exists there.

The wall-to-wall coverage of college football, NFL, NBA, and MLB is at a level that rugby simply cannot compete with. There is no breathing room for rugby without getting equal media coverage to those sports.

The MLR is slowly building and progressing, having secured broadcasts on ESPN, and there is no need to engage in competition over what is currently a small territory. It’s like harvesting the crop before it has even grown.

A more collaborative solution is to form a Champions Cup-style tournament between Super Rugby Pacific, MLR, and Japan Rugby League One clubs, which helps everyone.

All three of these competitions run at the same time in the calendar. It is feasible, with co-operation and buy in, to rearrange the schedules to fit in a cross-border knockout tournament with mid-season break weeks from their regular competition.

For many Super Rugby teams, these games could allow for many front-line players to rest while the younger squad members who don’t get enough game time can get the chance to start.

This would take Super Rugby to America and Asia (again), and vice versa, bringing the MLR to the Asia-Pacific. This allows for existing Super Rugby clubs to build more global footprints in Japan, where they previously played, and the USA.

All three club tournaments have a league format where the juicy playoff games come at the end. Running this type of knockout tournament brings high-stakes rugby to the middle of the season to add more excitement for fans and pressure moments for players.

There are 12 Japan Rugby League One teams, 11 Super Rugby Pacific teams and 11 MLR teams for a total of 34.

The top six from Super Rugby, and five each from JRLO and MLR could form a 16-team knockout league. It could be run over four weeks with straight playoff games.

Hosting rights for the final in a neutral location across the region could take the game to new places and create a travel-worthy event.

With just four weeks of action starting with a round of 16, unthought of commercial value in TV rights, naming rights and hosting rights could be unlocked that brings rewards to everyone.

It’s not as simple as that in reality, but over time it can be built.

For Super Rugby Pacific teams, making the top six would become a bigger chase with a lot more at stake. Players win with healthy playing bonuses per game in the new Champions League, teams will get extra revenue and commercial sponsors have more value.

Super Rugby teams in Australia and New Zealand hold meaningless un-televised pre-season fixtures that don’t bring value to anyone and waste the time and potential of the players. They even put out international players in these games who risk injury for absolutely nothing.

The Queensland Reds and Crusaders have even both undertaken costly pre-season tours to Europe recently which while are admirable endeavours, don’t bring in meaningful revenue as standalone ventures.

This is all an utter waste of time and poor use of the players. There is no need for pre-season fixtures. This is high performance nonsense with no commercial nous. Stop preparing and starting playing. Teams spend months preparing every year and more than half of the them aren’t very good anyway.

Cutting the dead pre-season unlocks time in the calendar to integrate a competition like this that brings more money in, which is ultimately what players want and fans want. Meaningful high-stakes fixtures.

Taking Joseph Suaalii with the Waratahs or Ardie Savea with Moana to Japan and the USA is good for everyone. Super Rugby Pacific’s marquee signings playing the Legion in San Diego or the Sungoliath in Tokyo is going to draw crowds and TV viewership.

The international talent in Japan Rugby League One is vast. This crossover venture helps leverage that talent to create a mouth-watering match ups with the likes of Richie Mo’unga and the Toshiba Brave Lupus potentially playing the Crusaders in a knockout game.

The answer for Super Rugby Pacific is not to expand the number of teams, it’s to take the existing teams into new markets and work with the competitions that are already established in the region.

That is a win-win solution that might be a much bigger commercial success and boost rugby in America with the MLR getting stronger competition as a result.

A new Super franchise in a non-rugby market is likely to be a money pit, as shown by the Rebels, that will need to be constantly propped up by the league and given help all while struggling to achieve the stated goals and desires you thought it would.

Don’t make the same mistakes you’ve only just recovered from. Think differently and do more with what is already there.