Major League Rugby will play with just five teams in 2027 but has signed a letter of intent with the Buffalo Thunderbolts regarding a bid for entry in 2028 and is in discussions with 17 groups regarding future expansion.
MLR was formed in 2018, and by 2022 the competition supported 13 teams. In 2025, teams in Utah, Miami, Los Angeles, Houston and New Orleans dropped out.
The league went ahead in 2026 with just six teams but Anthem RC, a World Rugby backed project in Charlotte, North Carolina, will not return next year. Seattle Seawolves, champions in 2018 and 2019, are the only founding members remaining. The other teams are Chicago Hounds, New England Free Jacks, Old Glory DC and California Legion.
MLR co-president Alex Magleby, a former US Eagles flanker and coach, told the Guardian the league hoped six of the 17 groups in talks to host a team would enter a formal bid process ahead of the 2028 season, with three to be selected.
Magleby described a “disciplined, milestone-driven expansion framework,” with candidates advancing “through distinct vetting gates: initial milestone review under a Letter of Intent (LOI), an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement (ENA), and final Board approval before a definitive Franchise Agreement is awarded”.
The league’s growth model, he said, “focuses on sustainable, de-risked expansion: mandating multi-year operating reserves for incoming owners, securing rugby-appropriate venues with favorable commercial terms, deepening domestic player pathways, community hub leadership and fan engagement structures, and leveraging the commercial runway to the 2031 Men’s and 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cups in the United States to drive national media rights and sponsorship value.”
In short, Magleby said, “We can’t expand too fast – too many lessons learned from the past.”
He also said the goal is to have the league back up to 12 teams by 2031, with MLR in every World Cup host city.
“We can’t expand too fast – too many lessons learned from the past,” Magleby said, adding that the goal is to have the league back up to 12 teams when the 2031 men’s World Cup is played in the US, with MLR in every host city.
World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin this week told Sports Business Journal the governing body expected to use 11 to 13 stadiums. Buffalo was not among bidding cities listed by SBJ. Nor was Indianapolis, long said by sources around the US game to be considering MLR entry.
Potential World Cup host cities listed by SBJ were: Atlanta, Baltimore, Birmingham (Alabama), Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York/New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco/Bay Area, Seattle, St Louis, Vancouver (Canada), and Washington DC.
Thursday’s announcement of the Buffalo MLR project raised eyebrows in North American rugby, given the city’s proximity to Canada. Canada has been without an MLR team since the Toronto Arrows’ exit in 2023 but this year’s champions, Chicago, fielded a core of Canadian players. In September, in the Pacific Nations Cup, Canada beat the US.
Mark Winokur, formerly the Arrows’ chief operating officer, joins local “filmmaker and rugby fan” Joe DiPasquale in the Buffalo project. Speaking to the Buffalo News, DiPasquale said: “One of the deepest rugby cultures in the US is right here in Buffalo, and the proximity to the Canadian border, with Canada being a huge rugby market, makes Buffalo a prime market for expansion.”
Magleby said: “Buffalo is a great sports city led by fiercely loyal and passionate fans, with deep rugby roots and a unique cross-border reach into Canada.”
One immediate challenge facing the Thunderbolts will be finding a place to play. DiPasquale told the Buffalo News he had spoken to Buffalo Pro Soccer, a consortium looking to enter the USL Championship, about sharing a venue. Buffalo Pro Soccer does not have a stadium, and has twice delayed planned start dates.
Backing the project, Buffalo-area New York state assemblyman Bill Conrad spoke about his local rugby roots, saying: “Rugby has been an instrumental part of my life since I was a very young man, when I played for SUNY Fredonia, and I later founded the Kenmore Rugby Club and coached kids in the sport for many years.
“I love the game and what it did for my personal growth, my physical fitness and self-discipline, and my understanding of teamwork and leadership. I embrace any opportunity to introduce more of the world to the sport, and Buffalo offers an already strong base of rugby players, boosters, and fans. I couldn’t agree more that it’s a logical locale for an MLR expansion.”
