Major League Rugby down to eight

Photo: Pixabay

NOLA, Miami out for 2026; Legion, RFCLA merge.

More than a month after New England Free Jacks won their third successive title, Major League Rugby has been reduced from eleven teams to eight. First, San Diego Legion and RFCLA announced that they have merged to become the California Legion and play their home games across Southern California.

Former Wallaby Adam Freier, who has been a key figure in Los Angeles rugby for the past four years, will take the reins as CEO of the California Legion. No details have been shared about whether former San Diego Legion owner Ryan Patterson or RFC L.A. owner Pete Sickle are equal partners or one is the majority owner of the new club according to an article from Forbes.

Meanwhile, both NOLA Gold and Miami Sharks announced that they will not participate in 2026. Both teams had requested to withdraw this season and come back in 2027, but the team owners declined that plan. Both NOLA and Miami could apply to re-join the league in 2027, but as of now, MLR will go into its ninth season with just eight teams — the lowest number since its second season.

Another club, Utah Warriors, is also seeking additional investment, but there is confidence that can be achieved.

There has been a history with teams coming and going, but it seemed for a while that things were going in the right direction after viewing figures were up, with 258 percent year-over-year streaming viewership growth and a 135 percent year-over-year increase in total minutes streamed thanks to a deal with ESPN.

In fact, after the Legion merger and before the Gold and Sharks announced their withdrawal, MLR CEO Nic Benson told Forbes, “We’re as bullish as we’ve ever been about our potential to drive value for the sport and through the sport.”

But now questions abound and it’s not the best optics with the Men’s Rugby World Cup coming to the USA in 2031 and the Women’s RWC to follow suit in 2033.