Women's Elite Rugby Explained

Women's Elite Rugby
Upcoming Season:2025 Women's Elite Rugby season
Logo Upright:0.7
Sport:Rugby union
Inaugural:2025 (planned)
Teams:6–8 (planned)
Country:United States

Women's Elite Rugby (WER) is a proposed annual semi-professional women's rugby union club competition to supersede the amateur Women's Premier League at the top level of the United States rugby union system. It is to be contested by six to eight clubs run by investor-operators, with all front office staff to be paid on a full-time basis, and players to be paid monthly stipends.

History

Having deemed its amateur pay-to-play model as "no longer sustainable",[1] [2] the Women's Premier League (WPL), an iteration of the top-level women's rugby union club competition in the United States founded in 2009,[3] embarked on its "Ignite the Change" campaign in 2022 that sought to professionalize women's rugby union in the United States. The campaign led to a board of directors being formed in mid-2023 to establish a for-profit professional league,[4] to capitalize on the perceived rise of professional women's sports, and both the 2028 Olympic rugby sevens tournament and 2033 Women's Rugby World Cup to be hosted in the United States.[5] A retention of American players and an expansion of rugby union's reach into the American sports market were also touted as goals for the new league; twelve of the United States national team's 2024 Pacific Four Series squad played in England's semi-professional league instead of an American league.[6]

The league was publicly unveiled as "Women's Elite Rugby" in an April 2024 press conference, announcing that its inaugural season will be played in 2025, and that it'll seek to be profitable by its third season. A funding round that same month raised $500,000 for the league through SAFEs with the venture capital firm Chasing Rainbows, and former Procter & Gamble executive Deb Henretta,[7] along with other unnamed family offices and private equity firms. In May, the league embarked on a seed round with an aim to raise $3 million, and are planning a series A round in early 2025.

Organization

Women's Elite Rugby's president is former rugby sevens national team player Jessica Hammond-Graf, and its vice president is Department of Justice legal historian and information specialist Katherine Aversano, while former Dallas Jackals general manager Phil Camm is its executive adviser. Stacy Carone, Koma Gandy, Jenny Houlihan, and Hallie Martin also sit on the league's board of directors alongside Hammond-Graf and Aversano. The league and its teams' front office staff will be paid on a full-time basis.

Teams

Women's Elite Rugby aims to have six to eight teams of up to thirty contracted players each in its inaugural 2025 season, with plans to expand beyond eight teams within its first ten seasons. Six of the teams will be located in the Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York, and the Twin Cities, respectively.[8] [9] Each team will be run by investor-operators with shares in the league, while the league itself will retain a degree of control over the recruitment of players and personnel.[10] The 2025 season will be semi-professional – players will be compensated with monthly stipends throughout the season. The seven members of the WPL – Beantown RFC, Berkeley All Blues, Chicago North Shore, Colorado Grey Wolves, Life West Gladiatrix, New York RC, and Twin Cities Amazons – are in discussions for potential promotion to the league.

See also

References

Sources

  1. Web site: Carosella . Vitas . Women's Elite Rugby Becomes First Professional Women's Rugby League In U.S. . . May 30, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240417024556/https://www.forbes.com/sites/vitascarosella/2024/04/16/womens-elite-rugby-becomes-first-professional-womens-rugby-league-in-us/?sh=531268996807 . April 17, 2024 . April 16, 2024 . live . limited.
  2. Web site: Lemire . Joe . Women's Elite Rugby launches as first women's pro 15-on-15 league in U.S., plans to debut in '25 . . May 30, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240503070051/https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/04/11/womens-elite-rugby-launch . May 3, 2024 . April 11, 2024 . live . limited.

Citations

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Organizers of first US women's professional rugby league hope to launch inaugural season in 2025 . . May 30, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240410195745/https://apnews.com/article/rugby-womens-pro-league-68c101c7d685fe098435a273c5f74e4f . April 10, 2024 . April 10, 2024 . live.
  2. Web site: Pengelly . Martin . Women's Elite Rugby pro league plans 2025 launch ahead of US World Cups . . May 30, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240410195340/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/apr/10/womens-elite-rugby-wer-pro-league-2025-us-world-cups . April 10, 2024 . April 10, 2024 . live.
  3. Web site: Hajducky . Dan . First U.S. pro women's rugby league announces plans for '25 . . May 30, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240428133433/https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/39916628/first-us-pro-women-rugby-league-announces-plans-25 . April 28, 2024 . April 10, 2024 . live.
  4. Web site: Flynn . Kerry . Women's Elite Rugby seeks funds as new U.S. league . . May 30, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240530145138/https://www.axios.com/pro/media-deals/2024/04/11/womens-elite-rugby-us-league . May 30, 2024 . April 11, 2024 . WER board member Jenny Houlihan said the board formed about a year ago to create a for-profit league. [...] Houlihan says WER expects to be profitable by its third year. . live . subscription.
  5. Web site: Feldman . Jacob . Women's Elite Rugby Announces U.S.' First Pro League . . May 30, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240412130010/https://www.sportico.com/leagues/other-sports/2024/pro-womens-rugby-league-elite-launch-1234774916/ . April 12, 2024 . April 12, 2024 . live.
  6. Web site: Thomas . Martyn . Women's Elite Rugby tipped to have big impact on USA . . May 30, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240501170029/https://www.rugbypass.com/news/womens-elite-rugby-can-have-big-impact-on-usa/ . May 1, 2024 . May 1, 2024 . live.
  7. Web site: Flynn . Kerry . Exclusive: Women's Elite Rugby to raise seed funding . . May 30, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240530142821/https://www.axios.com/pro/media-deals/2024/05/30/women-elite-rugby-funding . May 30, 2024 . May 30, 2024 . ...executive adviser Phil Camm [...] WER closed a $500,000 round, structured as a SAFE (simple agreement for future equity), in April. Investors include Chasing Rainbows, an early-stage venture fund supporting LGBTQ+ founders, and former Procter & Gamble executive Deb Henretta. Camm says WER is currently raising up to a $3 million seed round [...] and will seek a Series A next year or sooner. . live . subscription.
  8. Web site: Nguyen . Joe . Denver to host team for Women’s Elite Rugby’s inaugural season . . August 3, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240803171655/https://www.denverpost.com/2024/07/31/denver-team-womens-elite-rugby-inaugural-season/ . August 3, 2024 . July 31, 2024 . live.
  9. Web site: Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) Adds New York, San Francisco Bay Area, Twin Cities for Inaugural Season. . September 13, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240903222128/https://www.lindarothpr.com/the-newsroom/womens-elite-rugby-wer-announces-three-additional-markets-for-inaugural-season . September 3, 2024 . August 21, 2024 . live.
  10. Web site: Ferridge . Arthur . 'Hundreds of rugby professionals': players welcome US women's league . . May 30, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240523153248/https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/may/23/womens-elite-rugby-us-eagles- . May 23, 2024 . May 23, 2024 . live.

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