It has been a long and chaotic offseason for American rugby, and it seemingly got worse after Major League Rugby notified teams that they must make five currently rostered players available for the expansion draft for the new Chicago expansion team.
The expansion draft will be held alongside the dispersal draft for LA and Austin players, who saw their teams fold following financial issues with the team owner, on Nov. 10 behind closed doors.
Players were never notified about the expansion draft, and only LA and Austin players were told that there would be a dispersal draft without any other information, and expressed their concerns in a statement released by the United States Rugby Players Association (USRPA) Friday morning.
On 11/2, @usmlr sent a doc to former @Giltinis and @Gilgronis players detailing an expansion and dispersal draft that will take place on 11/10. Our MLR Players have expressed significant concerns that the draft processes will negatively affect player welfare.
— USRPA (@USARugbyPlayers) November 4, 2022
STATEMENT: pic.twitter.com/EtXxUQAXS4
This would be particularly detrimental to the league’s part-time players who rely on additional income. “These players would be required to move to Chicago, likely for the same part-time hourly wages and have to secure new secondary employment in a new city,” the statement said.
“It is additionally concerning that the league will only require the drafting teams to pay Players their existing MLR base compensation,” the statement said. “This means Players are no longer guaranteed to receive the housing, medical insurance, or other benefits they previously received.”
Now players have just six days to decide whether to continue playing in MLR and risk being relocated without any choice, or retire or play overseas. Players will also have the option of signing with their team of choice in the middle of the 2023 season, although having no pre-season training camp and half the pay of a full-season is not enticing to many.
Major League Rugby will now face another obstacle ahead of its sixth season. The 2023 season, with its 12 teams, is expected to begin in the early months of the 2023 calendar year.