In the past, if America’s best rugby players wanted to get paid, they would have had to go to another country like England or Australia. But thanks to the Professional Rugby Association, or PRO Rugby, that is no more. The new league will begin this year, featuring an initial five teams—in San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, Denver and Ohio.
How will professional rugby fare in a country that knows little about the sport?
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Doug Schoninger, the CEO of PRO Rugby, told Adweek that he is hoping to extend the sport to a young, millennial audience. He is expecting Americans under the age of 28 to take to this new, alternative sport.
Tickets on sale for @prorugbysd >> https://t.co/lf9HpzR7hI @ProRugbyUSA @USARugby pic.twitter.com/FxLnMygKYx
— PRO Rugby San Diego (@prorugbysd) March 30, 2016
As such, PRO Rugby’s marketing scheme has been heavily based on social media. They have released a number of videos to hype the start of the season on their various social media channels, from interviews to explaining the game of rugby.
The league created Facebook pages for all five of their teams, and they have purposefully left their teams unnamed so that fans can make suggestions throughout the season. This is a new level of fan engagement via social media.
Allan Hanson talking with us about growing up in #Ohio now having the opportunity to play @ProRugbyUSA @RugbyOhio pic.twitter.com/KduZI6CVHo
— Pro Rugby Ohio (@PRORugbyOhio) March 29, 2016
Stuck in a slightly similar realm of the American sports ecosystem, the Arena Football League (AFL) has seen tremendous results through heavy interaction on their social media accounts. The AFL started an initiative for fans to interact on social media with every level of the AFL experience, be it cheerleaders, coaches, players or teams.
While it is in a much different position than the AFL and PRO Rugby, presiding over the most popular sport in America, the NFL still immensely relies on social media. They have experimented with Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc. to access fans all over the world. Their content, especially on Twitter, is some of the highest performing content that the site sees.
Superb time in San Diego with the youngsters & also meeting the @prorugbysd players! #GrowingTheGame pic.twitter.com/spu9pNYbcA
— Socal Rugby Camps (@SocalRugbyCamps) March 29, 2016
But, the most pertinent example of a league that has grown tremendously since its inception, and has accessed a millennial fan base, is the MLS. It would be unfair to attribute the MLS’ success to solely its use of social media, which it is in fact savvy with. A majority of their quick growth, adding 11 teams and counting since its inception in 1996, can be attributed to the use of soccer specific stadiums, conservative spending and sheer luck.
The MLS happened to ride a new wave of soccer fanaticism in America—their league spurred on by an increased excitement around World Cup soccer and the U.S. National Team. They are the prime example of being supported by the exact fans that PRO Rugby is attempting to sway.
Without any serious excitement around the sport at the moment, PRO Rugby will have to be patient in their approach to the sport, taking any support they can muster. Social Media is surely a good starting point, but if they wish to build themselves into a formidable force in the sporting world, they might have to turn to even more experimental forms of sports technology.