Current season, competition or edition: 2024 Major League Rugby season | |
 | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2017 |
| First season | 2018 |
| Commissioner | Nic Benson[1] |
| No. of teams | 11 (as of 2025 season) |
| Countries |  United States(11 teams) |
| Headquarters | Dallas, Texas, United States |
| Confederation | RAN |
| Most recent champion(s) | New England Free Jacks (2nd title) |
| Most titles | Seattle Seawolves, New England Free Jacks (2 titles) |
| TV partner(s) |
|
| Official website | majorleague.rugby |
Major League Rugby (MLR)[a] is a professional rugby union competition for clubs in North America. In the 2023 season it was contested by twelve teams: eleven from the United States and one from Canada.[2] While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned by USA Rugby—a member union of Rugby Americas North (RAN)—and is consequently part of World Rugby. The league was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
MLR began its first season in 2018 with seven teams. The league has since expanded, reaching an all-time high of 13 teams in the 2022 season.[3] Twelve teams competed in the 2024 season.
Major League Rugby implemented its first collegiate MLR Draft in 2020.[4][5][6] Also in 2020, Major League Rugby teams started forming youth academies.[7][8]
- ^ "Major League Rugby Commissioner Killebrew Steps Down". Major League Rugby. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
- ^ "Major League Rugby Releases 2023 Season Schedule". Major League Rugby. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ "Major League Rugby Releases 2022 Season Schedule". Major League Rugby. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
- ^ "2020 MLR Collegiate Draft Summary". June 14, 2020.
- ^ "MLR Draft Picks 2020". Major League Rugby.
- ^ "2020 Major League Rugby Draft Application and Useful Athlete Info". USA Rugby. May 6, 2020.
- ^ "Glendale Announces 2021 Colorado XO Team". January 22, 2021.
- ^ "Utah Warriors Co-Founder to build Liberty Boys Academy - djcoilrugby". December 2, 2020.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).