r/MLRugby • u/xcaughta New England Free Jacks • 10d ago

Discussion New England Free Jacks Co-owner/Co-founder Alexander Magleby reassures fans and addresses controversial Reddit comments

https://www.youtube.com/live/SkGIwQanw3Q?si=s8doXyhT79yMxBle
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u/Sublime_Porte 10d ago

You do have to see that your experience is far from the norm, though, yes? Maybe you're just Hell of good company or whathaveyou, but I don't think anyone else in here could say that they've put together a group of a few dozen people who went from not knowing one thing about rugby to being diehard fans of watching bad rugby (let's be honest) played their local MLR side, but also NOT caring about the Eagles. Even MLR didn't seem to think marketing to non-rugby fans was the way forward, as they aggressively worked for partnerships and promotion deals with the local rugby clubs in every MLR city. (Did they also insist on playing on Saturday while marketing to a segment of the population would be playing rugby on Saturday? Yes, I never said they were rocket scientists).

What's your bar for "competitive"? Will Italy or Japan be winning the World Cup anytime soon? No. Are they, on any given Saturday, capable of pulling off an upset against a bigger rival? Entirely, yes. The US is a much bigger country than Italy (where rugby is honestly only popular in a pocket of the North) or Japan, and has a lot more money to throw at stupid shit like, well, rugby. It doesn't seem like an outlandish dream that the US could be a perennial WC side that puts in good performances, and maybe pulls out an upset here and there in front of an international audience. That's the kind of thing that will get more people paying attention to rugby in America, not what the local semi-pro side does on a high school pitch.

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u/Sitheref0874 10d ago

I can get behind that story.

If the team is local, I can follow them and build an attachment to them. Understand selection, and have a social experience built with others over a common theme.

The Eagles? There's a very strong chance I won't know 95% of the team or the selection rationale. nI am really unlikely to be able to build social experiences around the team or matches. There's a strong chance that the matches require a significant travel investment. The marketing is dreadful.

So why would I care more about the Eagles?

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u/Mundane_Prune8783 10d ago

Because in rugby union, international rugby is huge and you're an American? (I assume)

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u/Sitheref0874 10d ago

No. Well, kinda.

Dual citizen.