USA PRO Rugby Nixes San Francisco Rush

[bakakumon]

The San Francisco Rush are no more. PRO Rugby CEO and owner Doug Schoninger sent out an email Thursday informing players and coaches the team would not continue, citing venue issues.

"With no suitable venue available, we are forced to make the hard choice of terminating operations for the SF Rush and terminating all employees, effective immediately," Schoninger's email read. "I am particularly saddened as I feel, with more work and more local cooperation, we could have made the team successful in the short term."

The Rush finished fourth amongst the original five teams in 2016. Schoninger acknowledged there were issues with the San Francisco team from the league's beginnings.

"As you all know (probably better than me), San Francisco was challenging from all perspectives: training facilities, venue, venue facilities, local club relations, fan attendance and engagement, and local tv/newspaper's support, to name a few," he wrote.

Not a good off season news.
There is still no announcement concerning expansion.

http://www.rugbytoday.com/elite/pro-rugby-nixes-san-francisco-rush

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Yes, not great. Rush were the most entertaining team and it is a bit desperate for a franchise to be wholly dependent on the venue.

Signs that any potential agreement with SARU has fallen through too which will deprive PRO of a potential pool of suitable younger athletes.

Shonigner said he had the money set aside for three years so I'm sure we will see year two; but now he has gone from 7 to 4 confirmed teams in the past two months. He'll need an absolute minimum of 6 to get any support of credibility or momentum.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

California was always going to be fickle to develop esp in San Fran too many glory supporters too pricey and not enough space really.

He needs to go hard at the North east and North west now, try and develop them in areas similar to what he is doing with Ohio and Obetz where it has gone so well that they are building a new stadium for the rugby and lacrosse teams.

 

[die_mole]

facilities had to be the biggest issue... they were playing in a stadium built in 1953 that i doubt had the facilities that were up to the standard of Division 1 clubs and were no where near the facilities that the guys who have played international level were used to

i interned for a USL PRO soccer team, third level of american soccer, and the visiting teams were appalled by the locker rooms which were just double wides

it's going to be tough to find stadiums or practice facilities that have locker rooms and training rooms that will meet professional standards yet are small enough that the league can afford to use

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

@themole25 what with Obetz building a new stadium for the rugby and lacrosse teams do you think that pro rugby should go down the market of targeting smaller cities of a state and smaller states.

And once those have developed infrastructure and a supporter base and awareness the look to start adding big cities.

 

[die_mole]

I am still unsure about pro rugby and I hate public stadium financing but this would be my plan if I were them

Copy the early day NBA and target cities that don't have major league sports teams, just target "minor league" cities since you will have to compete with mls primarily and they will probably provide funding for a stadium

I like Ohio sharing a stadium with a lacrosse team since they are similar level sports here in the United States

Target cities that are willing and have the room to build you a stadium... so no major cities that are only interested in huge stadiums

Once rugby is established as just below soccer level sport they can move into big cities, these cities already have top level rugby but they are clubs which aren't commercially successful

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Could give an example of cities you think should be targeted, not the best with smallish cities in the US.

 

[die_mole]

should point out that obetz is a suburb of columbus so the cities i'm gonna mention are more like columbus
durham, raleigh or charlotte nc would be perfect criteria wise but there is no chance rugby goes into north carolina with their current LGBT laws
louisville, kentucky
hartford, connecticut
san jose, california (most likely their suburbs, i know fremont has been trying to get a sports team for awhile)
nashville or memphis, tennessee
san antonio, texas
las vegas, cause why the hell not

 

[Bee]

Can see that league fold before it even really start to roll.
Still got a way too amateur-ish look to me.