Major League Rugby

[Tobar Profile]

Well an article I read in RNZ pretty much explains the model the ownership group are looking at. Which is basing any Super Rugby team out of South Auckland and keeping the MLR team separate. The article only mentions that they would "coordinate them together". Which isn't unexpected but disappointing that they are willing to take it away from the Islands and basically have another Super team in Auckland.

Auckland is already quite a filled market, south Auckland has a large Polynesian community but it would be highly competitive with league which has a strong established base there and thats not even getting into venues.

So all this talk about having an Hawaiian based Super Rugby team was premature the owners clearly set out to run two different teams in two different competitions away from each other.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/421161 ... rugby-side

Yes this makes much more sense. I still think it would be kind of silly to have another team in Auckland so I question their plans but much better than 2 teams in Hawaii.

They can have one off games in Hawaii, that is a different story.

[jservuk Profile]

The women's soccer league in US is attracting celebrity ownership:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... angel-city

Maybe time to ask Russel Crowe and Hugh Jackson and other celebs from Rugby lands to look at MLR.

[thatrugbyguy Profile]

Nice bit of organic news here. Rugby ATL have adopted the fan nickname 'Rattlers', which is something you don't really see these days anymore in sport. Hopefully RUNY figures out a nickname too.

https://twitter.com/usmlr/status/1293623282944446465

[Working Class Rugger Profile]

Nice bit of organic news here. Rugby ATL have adopted the fan nickname 'Rattlers', which is something you don't really see these days anymore in sport. Hopefully RUNY figures out a nickname too.

https://twitter.com/usmlr/status/1293623282944446465

A week old.

[thatrugbyguy Profile]

Am I late to the RUNY nickname? lol.

[victorsra Profile Website]

Nice bit of organic news here. Rugby ATL have adopted the fan nickname 'Rattlers', which is something you don't really see these days anymore in sport. Hopefully RUNY figures out a nickname too.

https://twitter.com/usmlr/status/1293623282944446465

I don't understand. Is it still Rugby ATL or they will be called Atlanta Rattlers?

[Armchair Fan Profile]

It's Rugby ATL and they have coined "Ratlers" (Rugby ATLers) as the nickname for their fans.

Let's say US ultras culture is a bit weird from European and South American POV and even weirder in a rugby context besides Argentina and some French clubs...
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... ers-groups

[victorsra Profile Website]

I was just hopig they change name

[RugbyLiebe Profile]

It's Rugby ATL and they have coined "Ratlers" (Rugby ATLers) as the nickname for their fans.

Let's say US ultras culture is a bit weird from European and South American POV and even weirder in a rugby context besides Argentina and some French clubs...
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... ers-groups

The start of the article is incompetent. In 1996 the British Hooligan culture was in decline, but not the Ultra culture, which probably reached its peak in the mid 2000s. It is massive in Germany or other countries which actually still allow to stand in the stands. With Germany being the country with the highest average attendance for soccer matches, you can't simply say that's not a thing.
If you want to read a surprisingly good article read the German wikipedia entry. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-Bewegung

But to be honest, after that the article gets better. I think in general the whole Ultra-movement is a bit ridiculous, but is and was a driving factor of people going to soccer. There are more people than you would think that basically watch soccer for the camaraderie in the stands and not that much for the sport itself. And it looks that's the case in the MLS as well. It just looks a bit more plastic like everything in the USA. But way less plastic than the regular popcorn/pizza/beer and clapping hands on the screen American sports fan. The colour difference should be a nightmare for producing any merchandise with this logo on.


About the ATL, this is still worse than any Gilcocktail in my books. The logo looks like a mid 90ies metal band, who asked their village artist to make them a band logo.
To compare to another sport. That's what the Seattle Kraken (an NHL expansion team and what a great name) look like.https://www.clickondetroit.com/sports/2 ... me-kraken/

[jonny24 Profile]

Kraken a great name? Lol...

What's wrong with popcorn/pizza/beer?

[victorsra Profile Website]

At least someone agrees with me Rugby ATL isn't a proper name and the badge is lazy.

[RugbyLiebe Profile]

Kraken a great name? Lol...

What's wrong with popcorn/pizza/beer?

I might be biased, but the German word is Krake and there is no association/homonym with sth. bad like crackhead etc.
Ice-hockey is played on frozen water, so a dangerous, mysterious, gigantic and life-threatening water animal is a great choice in my books.

[victorsra Profile Website]

if some MLR teams don't want the traditional USA scheme of City + Fancy name, they could at least follow MLS and use names like Atlanta Rugby, Atlanta RC, Atlanta RFC, New York United, New York RFC, New York Rugby.... it sounds more natural, it communicates bette. I don't know why MLR some MLR clubs opted for name different from North American leagues traditions. Doesn't sound a smart thing to do.

[thatrugbyguy Profile]

I think more sporting teams should follow in Rugby ATL's footsteps and allow the nickname to come through naturally. Many, if not most sporting clubs across the world that are more than 50 years old developed their nicknames organically as opposed to what happens today where there are people in boardrooms tossing around names to use for the brand. Allowing a nickname to come from the supporters makes the whole thing very much more like a community team. And honestly, this one is just clever. I guarantee you no-one in the boardroom of Rugby ATL would ever have looked at their name and thought "If we shorten it to RATL it kinda looks like rattle".

[victorsra Profile Website]

I agree with you. Nicknames coming from the fans is basicaly the rule in soccer in almost all the world and also in rugby in places like France, Argentina...

But Atlanta could simply have a proper full name, like Atlanta Rugby. "Rugby ATL" sounds a sketch of a team IMO, it is in the Top 10 worst names in the history of sports in the world (after LA Giltinis and Austin Gilgronis)

I realy like MLR, but it has a serious naming issue.

[victorsra Profile Website]

Is it known why LA Giltinis is still out of MLR's website? https://www.majorleague.rugby/teams/

[Canalina Profile]

Just a map

[jonny24 Profile]

Kraken a great name? Lol...

What's wrong with popcorn/pizza/beer?

I might be biased, but the German word is Krake and there is no association/homonym with sth. bad like crackhead etc.
Ice-hockey is played on frozen water, so a dangerous, mysterious, gigantic and life-threatening water animal is a great choice in my books.

It's popularity seems to be almost entirely based on a meme, that's all.

[RugbyLiebe Profile]

Kraken a great name? Lol...

What's wrong with popcorn/pizza/beer?

I might be biased, but the German word is Krake and there is no association/homonym with sth. bad like crackhead etc.
Ice-hockey is played on frozen water, so a dangerous, mysterious, gigantic and life-threatening water animal is a great choice in my books.

It's popularity seems to be almost entirely based on a meme, that's all.

Never seen a Kraken meme at all. I see it more as the fascinations, that in the most unknown parts of our planet there might be lurking a gigantic and surprisingly smart animal (there have been found dead Pacific Kraken with 270kg and around 9,5m diameter.). That's fascinating. Also the name really sounds cool in German. As it is a great combination of hard pronounced consonants at the start and then a really soft vocal.

Sorry, I didn't answer the popcorn/pizza/beer-thing. There is nothing wrong with that. Just to explain: From a Euro or South/- Middle American perspective the average attendant to a North American sport is incredible lame. Just sitting and eating and watching. Everywhere else you got chants from most of the attendance etc. More consumer than fans (yeah a bit of a view of adulescents and romantic what fans are, but I think that would be the average view of a Latino/Euro sports fan).

[jonny24 Profile]

https://images.app.goo.gl/w45ox9ssFp1VeySN7

From Clash of the Titans and Pirates of the Caribbean - both with the guy going "Release the kraken!" .... That became a meme, and although it's hard to tell since it's been ten years since those memes have been around, it doesn't seem like there's any "common" knowledge or conceptions about the kraken here.

And idk what to tell you, maybe baseball is more boring and just sitting watching, but then I get the impression cricket is like that too- more leisurely sports. But the fans definitely get involved in football. There's nothing as good as forcing the other team to take a time-count violation since they can't communicate with each other over the noise.

The soccer people try to push the singing/"chanting". It seems incredibly forced and lame. We only sat in that area for one game before we said screw this, I want to actually watch a game, not do forced pun-based singalong jumping around with grown adults.

[victorsra Profile Website]

If there is one thing soccer culture isn't is "forced". Maybe for clubs born yesterday. Almost all Latin-american and European clubs are popular for like a hundred years old or more, the fans culture (the flags, nicknames, music, etc) is extremely dense and old. That's what happens when you don't relocate or rename (or shut down!) sports teams.

I know many NHL and MLB teams are that old too, but those are cultures that evolved through time. They aren't plastic.

[snapper37 Profile]

https://images.app.goo.gl/w45ox9ssFp1VeySN7

From Clash of the Titans and Pirates of the Caribbean - both with the guy going "Release the kraken!" .... That became a meme, and although it's hard to tell since it's been ten years since those memes have been around, it doesn't seem like there's any "common" knowledge or conceptions about the kraken here.

And idk what to tell you, maybe baseball is more boring and just sitting watching, but then I get the impression cricket is like that too- more leisurely sports. But the fans definitely get involved in football. There's nothing as good as forcing the other team to take a time-count violation since they can't communicate with each other over the noise.

The soccer people try to push the singing/"chanting". It seems incredibly forced and lame. We only sat in that area for one game before we said screw this, I want to actually watch a game, not do forced pun-based singalong jumping around with grown adults.

The Seattle Kraken name isn't that bad. Krake heads and drake house aside it will be quite interesting to see how they sell it.

[victorsra Profile Website]

Kraken wasn't invented by the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. It is a Nordic Middle Age legend. It appears in classic literature, Moby Dick for exemple. Ok, it is pop because of the meme, but it isn't a meme.

[jonny24 Profile]

I know its from that, but literally every single person who I've talked about the Seattle team with has just gone "Yeah the Kraken! Release the kraken! Lol!" And that's it. If it's a hockey person then the obligatory "should have been Quebec though" .

[Tobar Profile]

if some MLR teams don't want the traditional USA scheme of City + Fancy name, they could at least follow MLS and use names like Atlanta Rugby, Atlanta RC, Atlanta RFC, New York United, New York RFC, New York Rugby.... it sounds more natural, it communicates bette. I don't know why MLR some MLR clubs opted for name different from North American leagues traditions. Doesn't sound a smart thing to do.

Both Atlanta Rugby and New York Rugby / New York RFC are taken by local clubs so those aren’t available, unfortunately.