Tag Archives: rugby

New Zealand’s Tucker Brothers Collide In Major League Rugby Final In New Jersey Saturday

The season-long quest for the Major League Rugby (MLR) shield culminates this weekend, as Rugby New York battles the Seattle Seawolves in the Championship Final. The winner will be decided Saturday, June 25, 2022, at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.

New Zealand-born Brothers Brad Tucker, who plays for Seattle, and William Tucker of Rugby New York, will collide for family bragging rights, along with the championship.

Three locals will showcase their talents for Rugby NY: Connor Buckley hails from Rockaway Beach (Queens), John Powers is a product of  Rockaway Park; and Nick Civetta from Scarsdale, NY in Westchester.

Brad Tucker

Dallen Stanford and Mike Petri will serve as commentators for the nationally-televised match on FOX at 12pm EST.

The Seawolves defeated the Houston Sabercats last Saturday to secure the Western Conference, after strong offensive showings from both sides. Meanwhile, Rugby New York upset the New England Free Jacks on Sunday in a tight match to claim the competitive Eastern Conference.

“As Major League Rugby wraps up an action-packed fifth season, we are excited to see Rugby NY and the Seattle Seawolves battle it out this weekend at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey,” said MLR Commissioner George Killebrew.

“It’s been a tough road for these players to get here. They’ve taken – and handed out – some punishment over the course of 16 games in the 18-week season. Each player on these teams proved they deserved to be here, and it will be an absolute honor to watch these elite athletes do what they love on Saturday.”

Tickets for the MLR Championship are to the public on MLR’s official website and Ticketmaster, and the S. Marcus Callowa Communit Impact Award recipient will be recognized at halftime.

Major League Rugby Kicks Off Fifth Season Feb. 5-6

Major League Rugby (MLR) prepares to kick off its fifth season of competition as the highest level of rugby in North America. The 2022 season begins on the weekend of Feb. 5-6, with six matches on the schedule.

Celebrated as an emerging sport by MLR, rugby is a global movement gaining momentum. A game with heart and soul that echoes the best aspects of life, rugby prioritizes the importance of community, emphasizes glory with modesty, while giving mutual respect for rules and rule makers. Success in the sport is not measured in wins and losses, but in the growth of the game.

MLR is spreading the mantra that the game of rugby isn’t for anyone; rather it’s for everyone. It’s an experience that captivates and forms connections well beyond the final whistle.

“As we approach our half-decade mark with MLR, I have seen firsthand that there is a global rugby movement within the United States and Canada,” says Commissioner George Killebrew. “Thanks to the groundswell of support for the ‘Rise of Rugby,’ our league is truly gaining momentum on the national stage. I cannot wait to introduce Major League Rugby to more fans and see continued growth in attendance numbers, broadcast ratings and global recognition during our fifth season. There’s a place for everyone in our sport.”

Beginning with seven teams in 2018, MLR has grown to 13 teams for its fifth season in 2022. League play begins on Feb. 5 and continues through June 5, with the Championship Series beginning on June 11. The MLR Championship Final is slated to be played the weekend of June 25/26.

The 2021 season saw Major League Rugby begin play on March 20 and continue for 18 weeks of regular season action. Twelve teams across North America competed to qualify for the Conference Finals and eventually the MLR Championship Final. The LA Giltinis and Rugby ATL progressed to the MLR Championship Final on August 1, played at the LA Memorial Coliseum. With over 2.08 million households tuned in on CBS, the LA Giltinis took home the Major League Rugby Shield.

MLR matches are nationally televised on the FOX Network on FS1 and FS2, among other national and local market platforms. Select matches are available to stream live in North America on The Rugby Network, and all matches are available to stream live on The Rugby Network for international fans.

World Cup Fantasy Could Open Door to Olympic Fantasy

By Joe Favorito @Joefav @TheDailyPayoff

The success and proof of concept that Mondogoal achieved these past two weeks with Women’s World Cup showed that select niche mega-events can draw both dollars and attention.

DraftKings and other smaller companies have been looking to golf as a new growing platform because it is simple, mobile and can be played in and around live event. Their their million dollar winner for the US Open demonstrated a growing market not just for golfers but for millennials who may never play a four-hour round on a Saturday.

As we move closer to the one year out celebration that countries all over the world will put on for Rio, it’s interesting to start thinking about the permutations of Olympic fantasy and how it would work. New sports coming into Rio, golf especially, can easily be adapted to a pay fantasy model, and team sports like basketball are ripe for an engagement game.

Parlay the fact that the International Olympic Committee earlier this year approved legal sports books in Nevada to carry betting lines for next summer’s games, and that means that a deeper analytic dive will be made by betting houses around the world to find ways to create interest in sports like swimming and other individual sports as well. Fantasy gymnastics, anyone?

Maybe not gymnastics, as individual sports outside the mainstream may be too difficult to create an audience for. However for key team sports, and add in a growing sport like rugby which will be in the games for the first time and has a strong tie to traditional gambling play, and other mainstream team sports in the Games, and you have interesting opportunities for pay fantasy alongside traditional gambling being done legally from Las Vegas.

The interest in fantasy and gambling will not be lost on rights holder NBC as well. The recent numbers by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association show that the more fantasy play involved with sport, the more the viewer is engaged in the broadcast and all pieces that go along with engagement. Since the Olympics traditionally skew viewers that are older and more female, the goal is to find a younger and more engaged audience, and an investment in fantasy play may be smart, at least for American audience engagement for 2016.

“There is no doubt that pay fantasy is growing in engagement, the question is still how do you make it simple and appealing to a wide audience of casual fans, and there is no bigger event other than the Super Bowl that gathers casual fans like the Olympics,” said Chris Lencheski, longtime marketer and currently running the consulting business Phoenicia. “The amount of data available for the Olympics so vast, the broadcasters want more engagement, and the marketing dollars are there. While it might not be a huge playing audience for 2016, it can set the table for the future just like this Women’s World Cup game has, so it will be interesting to see who steps up to engage.”

While Yahoo has said they will make a big play in the pay fantasy space this fall, most other media companies have gone the partner route, looking for revenue share and advertising dollars from the bigger pay fantasy players thus far. Could that change if the marketplace shows an interest going forward? NBC has done a great job in creative engagement around its properties, and added engagement for the Olympics in the form of pay fantasy would be an intriguing look.

If it worked for WWC, maybe it can work for the Olympics as well.