New York City Rugby League
New York City Rugby League is the tentitive name of a proposed professional rugby league team. The team plans to compete in the Rugby Football League's League 1 in 2021 and would be the first American professional rugby league club.[1] They will play home games at Red Bull Arena.
Club information | |
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Short name | NYRL |
Colours | Blue and orange |
Founded | 2019 |
Current details | |
Ground(s) |
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Competition | League 1 |
History
It was first reported in October 2017 that a New York consortium were seeking to is to join the Rugby Football League's League 1 in 2019.[2] Earlier in 2017, Canadian side Toronto Wolfpack became the first transatlantic team to join the league.
On May 20, 2019, the Rugby Football League released a statement on the two prospective overseas clubs. Ottawa had been accepted in principle to join League 1 in 2020 while New York had a change in ownership structure and without existing operations was encouraged to work toward entry in 2021.[3][4] As Ottawa Aces were accepted for entry to RFL League 1 for the 2021 season, it was decided that adding 2 North American teams to a semi professional league would add extra pressure to current teams. So New York City Rugby League are now likely to be accepted into League 1 for the 2022 season.
References
- Walter, Brad (October 17, 2019). "New York bid sizing up USA players for shot at Super League". NRL.com.
- Bower, Aaron (October 16, 2017). "New York team aiming to emulate Toronto move into League 1 ranks". The Guardian.
- "Overseas Clubs Update". Rugby Football League. May 20, 2019.
- Davidson, Neil (July 29, 2019). "New Ottawa rugby league team now expected to take the field in 2021". Globalnews.ca.