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USA team in Super Rugby Pacific is not the answer right now, but this is
By Ben Smith
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Since when has the US ever been part of any “region” comprising NZ, AUS, Japan and the PI’s? Has no one in the SH learned anything from Super Rugby past failures?
Yeah no one down here wants a USA team. If anything they should play in a different conference like the NBA or NFL.
Ah, ok sobyhebUS thatvis like 15th in the World Rankkbgs can participate in a rugby tournament beautiful Argentina , 5th kn the world can’t play in the most of the competition around the world ?, and thos is not about money, right ???
A Champions Cup league as suggested by Ben Smith is ridiculous. He has obviously never watched an MLR match. I have seen many as I live in Canada and watch matches each week.
The MLR is FAR below NPC level. Southland and Manawatu would put 50 points on the MLR champions.
MLR is at the level of NZ premier club rugby at best.
If the US Eagles had all of their best international players available and contracted, they could put together a competitive team in Super Rugby over time. Same with Canada.
Sorry, but the US and Canadá level is far below from the 1rst tier teams and shouldn’t participate in competition with 1st tier teams
The question for any expansion is - what is the point?
On one hand talking about expanding for commercial reasons, but then saying younger squad members would play giving big names a rest making it more for development purposes?
The problem with SRP is it serves two masters - fans who want a good competition to watch, but also the national teams in developing players so they can go on to become international players.
The case for maximising young player development:
A major problem NZ and Australia have is at U20s. AR and NZR would be best served by investing in proper U20 super rugby competition that runs in conjunction with Super Rugby, rather than the one-off carnival style thing that happens at the moment. 20 year olds coming out of France and England in particular, but also France are noticeably more developed than the equivalent players from NZ, Australia and even SA.
NZ and Australia probably both have one too many teams in SR. If you’re taking a long term view they are best served by cutting teams from the comp now and improving the quality even more. Although MP have been good this year there is also an argument for cutting them too, and reducing to 8 teams that all play each other home and away in a round robin. It would be a ridiculously strong competition with a lot of depth if all the best players are redistributed.
This in conjunction with a full U20s competition (possibly playing just one round rather than 2) would make NZ and Australia international teams much stronger with a lot more depth.
But that solution would make less money and cost more.
NPC would need to be fully amateur or semi-pro at best in this model. If you cross reference the losses NZR posted today with the costs they have previously published about operating the NPC, you can attribute a huge amount, if not all of the losses, to the NPC. At the moment this is putting way too much money into a failing high performance competition at the expense of development.
The issue is the local unions hold a significant percentage of the votes, so any attempt to change the NPC model will be blocked.
Get rid of SR altogether. Saves a bit of much needed cash for the unions. Start the NPC and the Aussie domestic comp in February and let the top teams qualify for the Pacific Cup. That means that NPC teams three things to play for: the title, the Ranfurly Shield and qualification spots in the Pacific Cup.
And don’t forget to add teams from Super Rugby South America too.
I like your idea best. Your right
With a loss of NZ$19.5-million????
Hong Kong now there is a place to put a team she would be all imports but surely you could find a Rich cat over there ?
Thats actually a really good idea. Opens up a Chinese market too
Super Rugby = Basketball rugby.
I think adding loads of US teams would be brilliant…
They had the right idea over 30 years ago when it was the Aussies, the top island team, and the top four provincial sides from SA and NZ. Frankly, if you put all the Super players (including All Blacks) back into their provincial teams, some would be just as strong as the Super sides.
Japan is the better way to go rathan than the US. For all this talk of players saying they miss going up against the South Africans, well half of their squad is playing in Japanese rugby. It would also make sense from a selection point of view given how many quality NZ players are there already. That’s assuming the NZR ever got over their backwards thinking that Kiwis playing for non-NZ sides can’t be selected.
Japan don’t need a Super side they got their own comp that’s going fine with their own fans
I like this idea from Ben. Does make more sense. I’d watch it.
It’s got my vote!
Yeah, no thanks. Don’t want a US team, and sure as hell don’t want a competition with the MLR in it. If that SR/ JRLO crossover comp they’ve been discussing manifests, that’ll be a hell of a lot better.
Moana in Hawaiii could be good place to take a home match?…