THANK YOU WARRIORS NATION. Up until just days ago, the Utah Warriors were committed and on track to participate in the 2026 Major League Rugby season. Unfortunately, things changed quickly in the past week.

As of this morning, we have informed Major League Rugby that we will not participate in 2026 and are suspending club operations.

It's a bad time for MLR. Four of the five remaining original teams have closed shop in a single off-season (California Legion is basically RFCLA subsuming San Diego and keeping the more established Legion branding). Seattle, the only one of the original 7 to win a title are now the last ones standing.

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[–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

Dang, hate to see it. I hope the rest of the league has staying power. I would expect in addition to general economic shittiness, visas for foreign players are harder to get, not to mention foreign players being less interested in coming to the US on a visa to begin with.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago

    No doubt. I'm sure the restrictions on foreign players was a huge contributor to Houston folding. And the Polynesian players having to worry about being deported to the wrong continent certainly isn't a positive for anyone.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    @baronvonj@lemmy.world @baronvonj@mas.to damn. I hope this isn’t the way the whole league is heading.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    @baronvonj At least they are refunding season ticket holders, unlike New York.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

    What the heck happened in a week to make them fold?

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    Word over on Discord is that they weren't able to raise the required capital even after an extended deadline.

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