RL has been in the USA for a while, but there has only really been a regular organized league for about 10 years. There are currently two governing bodies for the sport there, the USARL and the ANNRL. Previously the AMNRL was the only governing body but the majority of clubs split away in 2011, basically because the guy in charge of the AMNRL (an Australian named David Niu) was unwilling to give any power to the clubs and was running things undemocratically for the benefit of himself and his group of close friends, as well as other issues such as a lack of minimum standards within the AMNRL competition. As a result, there are currently two competitions. The USARL is the stronger league, but the AMNRL and Niu retain control of the national team and since the split have banned USARL players from representing their country, using national selection as a way of blackmailing players to try and weaken the rival league. Which is a pretty situation, but if things aren't resolved by next year then expect to see the USA team in the World Cup without the majority of actual domestic players.

Virtually all the teams in both the USARL and AMNRL competitions are based around the East Coast, and particularly the area between Washington DC and Boston (the USA's 'M62 corridor' if you want). In addition, there are numerous developing 'expansion teams' located in various other parts of the country, but their activity is generally sporadic and unorganized due to the distances involved and their formative nature. There were small regional competitions in the Midwest and in Florida this year under the guidance of the AMNRL and USARL respectively, which is positive. Someone on a different forum made a map of all the currently active RL teams in North America which is useful for a visualization: https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&g ... 5707e6b3b0

Regarding television coverage, I believe Super League and the NRL are televised on Fox Soccer, which is a small-time subscription-only channel. No domestic RL is televised, although some of the bigger USARL clubs stream matches live on the internet, and others post highlights/interviews on YouTube etc. In terms of the profile of the clubs, they range from being the equivalent of strong Championship clubs to low-level amateur sides. The biggest club, Jacksonville Axemen, get around 2,000 paying supporters to every game and enjoy a great profile in the community, they are probably the third biggest sports team in Jacksonville. Other clubs just play in front of family and friends.

More information:
www.usarugbyleague.com/
www.ayrla.org/
www.amnrl.com/ (don't believe everything you read on here, the AMNRL are know for being spin doctors)

Football is a minority in the USA and still manages to produce a competitive international team with some global stars. Major League Soccer has a higher average attendance than the NRL, and almost twice that of Super League. What you need to understand is that America has cities the size of Leeds with no major sports team of any kind. Hundreds of thousands of people turn up for local College matches, and even high school matches. It would be possible to produce a competition to rival Super League without even really scratching the surface there.

RL has been in the USA for a while, but there has only really been a regular organized league for about 10 years. There are currently two governing bodies for the sport there, the USARL and the ANNRL. Previously the AMNRL was the only governing body but the majority of clubs split away in 2011, basically because the guy in charge of the AMNRL (an Australian named David Niu) was unwilling to give any power to the clubs and was running things undemocratically for the benefit of himself and his group of close friends, as well as other issues such as a lack of minimum standards within the AMNRL competition. As a result, there are currently two competitions. The USARL is the stronger league, but the AMNRL and Niu retain control of the national team and since the split have banned USARL players from representing their country, using national selection as a way of blackmailing players to try and weaken the rival league. Which is a pretty situation, but if things aren't resolved by next year then expect to see the USA team in the World Cup without the majority of actual domestic players.

Virtually all the teams in both the USARL and AMNRL competitions are based around the East Coast, and particularly the area between Washington DC and Boston (the USA's 'M62 corridor' if you want). In addition, there are numerous developing 'expansion teams' located in various other parts of the country, but their activity is generally sporadic and unorganized due to the distances involved and their formative nature. There were small regional competitions in the Midwest and in Florida this year under the guidance of the AMNRL and USARL respectively, which is positive. Someone on a different forum made a map of all the currently active RL teams in North America which is useful for a visualization: https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&g ... 5707e6b3b0

Regarding television coverage, I believe Super League and the NRL are televised on Fox Soccer, which is a small-time subscription-only channel. No domestic RL is televised, although some of the bigger USARL clubs stream matches live on the internet, and others post highlights/interviews on YouTube etc. In terms of the profile of the clubs, they range from being the equivalent of strong Championship clubs to low-level amateur sides. The biggest club, Jacksonville Axemen, get around 2,000 paying supporters to every game and enjoy a great profile in the community, they are probably the third biggest sports team in Jacksonville. Other clubs just play in front of family and friends.

More information:
www.usarugbyleague.com/
www.ayrla.org/
www.amnrl.com/ (don't believe everything you read on here, the AMNRL are know for being spin doctors)

Football is a minority in the USA and still manages to produce a competitive international team with some global stars. Major League Soccer has a higher average attendance than the NRL, and almost twice that of Super League. What you need to understand is that America has cities the size of Leeds with no major sports team of any kind. Hundreds of thousands of people turn up for local College matches, and even high school matches. It would be possible to produce a competition to rival Super League without even really scratching the surface there.

Just to support that last paragraph, I have spent a lot of time in Providence, Rhode Island,which is a medium sized city and the capital of the state. They have a fledgling USRL team, the Rhode Island Rebellion. This city has only a minor league baseball team and a minor league ice hockey team. They have a big working class/middle class population, they have several universities and colleges. There aqre many other such places, Manchester New Hampshire, Hartford Connecticutt, Portland, Maine, Springfield, Massachussetts. Thats just a sample in New England. There are dozens of others without a major league team throughout the US.

RL in the UK is by and large a sport based on medium to small towns and cities and this same market is very definitely there to be developed in the US. There was an article recently about an entrepeneur wanting to invest in pro rugby in the US, both RU and RL. The similarities of RL to american football also would seem to make it an attractive game to Americans. Its a pity the strongest available team will not be sent to the World Cup. A good showing would be a good promotional tool for pushing the game into the US sporting consciousness.

Just to support that last paragraph, I have spent a lot of time in Providence, Rhode Island,which is a medium sized city and the capital of the state. They have a fledgling USRL team, the Rhode Island Rebellion. This city has only a minor league baseball team and a minor league ice hockey team. They have a big working class/middle class population, they have several universities and colleges. There aqre many other such places, Manchester New Hampshire, Hartford Connecticutt, Portland, Maine, Springfield, Massachussetts. Thats just a sample in New England. There are dozens of others without a major league team throughout the US.

RL in the UK is by and large a sport based on medium to small towns and cities and this same market is very definitely there to be developed in the US. There was an article recently about an entrepeneur wanting to invest in pro rugby in the US, both RU and RL. The similarities of RL to american football also would seem to make it an attractive game to Americans. Its a pity the strongest available team will not be sent to the World Cup. A good showing would be a good promotional tool for pushing the game into the US sporting consciousness.

Is this still taking place?

m.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league ... 1x93b.html

Is this still taking place?

m.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league ... 1x93b.html

Yes, teams tend to consist of a couple of guys with RU experience, former players from other sports such as American football or just complete novices. In addition, most of the teams have a couple of import players from Australia and the UK. Former Australia international Shannon Hegarty turned out for Jacksonville this year, and a couple of other teams have former top-grade players such as Dustin Cooper and Gareth Frodsham.

One of the issues that the USARL clubs had with the AMNRL and Niu was that they tend to neglect things like grassroots and youth development in favour of grandiose ideas like the Melbourne game mentioned above, which are great for attracting publicity but ultimately pointless if you don't follow it up afterwards. Last year the USARL launched the American Youth Rugby League Association, which implemented initial programs in schools and correctional facilities in the Rhode Island and Philadelphia areas. I posted a link to the AYRLA website earlier, and they also ran a youth development blog documenting their activities. usarl-yd.blogspot.co.uk/view/magazine This is the first youth development of any kind in the USA, so it's a big step. The AMNRL also claimed that they were beginning youth development in response to this, but AFAIK nothing has yet transpired.

Yes, teams tend to consist of a couple of guys with RU experience, former players from other sports such as American football or just complete novices. In addition, most of the teams have a couple of import players from Australia and the UK. Former Australia international Shannon Hegarty turned out for Jacksonville this year, and a couple of other teams have former top-grade players such as Dustin Cooper and Gareth Frodsham.

One of the issues that the USARL clubs had with the AMNRL and Niu was that they tend to neglect things like grassroots and youth development in favour of grandiose ideas like the Melbourne game mentioned above, which are great for attracting publicity but ultimately pointless if you don't follow it up afterwards. Last year the USARL launched the American Youth Rugby League Association, which implemented initial programs in schools and correctional facilities in the Rhode Island and Philadelphia areas. I posted a link to the AYRLA website earlier, and they also ran a youth development blog documenting their activities. usarl-yd.blogspot.co.uk/view/magazine This is the first youth development of any kind in the USA, so it's a big step. The AMNRL also claimed that they were beginning youth development in response to this, but AFAIK nothing has yet transpired.