Major League Rugby expanding to 12 teams in 2020

Major League Rugby will expand to 12 teams in 2020. The new teams in Boston (New England FreeJacks), Washington DC (Old Glory), and Atlanta (Rugby ATL) have already been approved and the door has now closed on further expansion next season.

League commissioner Dean Howes has confirmed that Dallas are the 13th ‘full member’ and the third Texan team could join in the 2021 season. Other interest has come from several parties but none, as of yet, have received member status. The franchise buy-in price is currently set at $4 million USD.

The new format for the 2020 season is set to come earlier than expected, with an announcement to come later this week according to Howes. An owners meeting recently held in Houston secured changes to both the regular season and playoff format.

It’s expected the league will move to a conference system, likely East and West. With the season length set to remain the same, a possible format could see home-and-away against in-conference teams and one game against the teams in the other conference.

Full story via americasrugbynews