Rugby union in the United States (almost always referred to as simply "rugby") is played at youth, high school, college, amateur, professional, and international levels and governed by USA Rugby. There were over 125,000 players registered with USA Rugby as of 2016. Over 2,500 rugby union clubs exist around the country, including those who are part of college rugby. Professional club competition has existed as Major League Rugby (MLR) since 2017.
An international competition, the USA Sevens is held every February at Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles, draws over 60,000 fans, and is broadcast on Paramount+. The U.S. national team hosts international matches every June, with an attendance of around 20,000. Collegiately, the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) is held every June at rotating venues, draws around 20,000 fans, and is broadcast on The Rugby Network.
Overview Rugby union, usually referred to in the U.S. simply as "rugby", is played professionally (Major League Rugby), recreationally and in colleges, though it is not governed by the NCAA (see college rugby).
Rugby union participation in the U.S. has grown significantly in recent years, growing by 350% between 2004 and 2011. A 2010 survey by the National Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association ranked rugby union as the fastest-growing sport in the U.S.
Rugby union is the fastest growing college sport and sport in general in the United States.
Rugby union was first introduced to the United States in the mid nineteenth century and gained popularity throughout the late nineteenth century. However, it started to decline from the early 1900s after the formation of American football. The U.S. won the gold medal in rugby at the 1920 Olympics and again at the 1924 Olympics, but rugby collapsed in the country after the 1924 Olympics (except in certain hotbeds of rugby such as San Francisco, St. Louis, and New York, which saw continuous competition). Rugby union did not re-emerge in the US until its renaissance in the 1960s and 1970s. The United States of America Rugby Football Union (now known as USA Rugby) was formed in 1975.
The United States men's national team, the Eagles, has competed in all but one of the Rugby World Cup tournaments held every four years since 1987. The U.S. national team plays home matches every June, including international test matches. The United States is a Tier 2 rugby nation, which means that it is not currently competitive at the elite level of the sport, but is one of World Rugby's key development markets. The national team competed in the six-nation Americas Rugby Championship until its cancellation in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
USA Rugby fields other national teams. The men's national rugby sevens team has been a "core team" that has participated in every tournament since 2008 of the annual World Rugby Sevens Series. The women's national team reached the quarterfinals of every Women's Rugby World Cup up to the 2021 edition in New Zealand, and won the inaugural Women's Rugby World Cup in 1991. They came 3rd in their group in the 2025 edition in England and failed to progress to the knockout stages. The women's national sevens team is one of the core teams in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, which has included a tournament in the U.S. since its first season in 2012–13. The U.S. tournament is held in Los Angeles in Dignity Health Sports Park.
History
The first recorded rugby union match between two North American schools occurred on May 14, 1874, between Harvard University and McGill University teams.
Rugby grew in the early 1900s, spurred in part by American football's crisis of 1905-06 due to the perception that American football was a violent sport. During this era, rugby was perceived as having the potential to challenge American football as the dominant football code on the west coast. At the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, a United States rugby team composed largely of players from Stanford University defeated France to win the gold medal. Rugby union was again included in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, where the United States again defeated France for the gold. Despite this success, however, rugby in the United States largely faded away.
Rugby began its revival in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, as many colleges started club rugby teams."The Beginning of 7s in the US" , Rugby Today, August 11, 2014. USA Rugby, the body that governs rugby in the U.S., was founded in 1975. On January 31, 1976, the U.S. national team played Australia—in its first official match since the 1924 Olympics—before 8,000 fans at Glover Field in Anaheim, California.A Look Back – 1976 Australia vs. USA (Part I) by Allyn Freeman on RugbyToday, August 1, 2015 Australia won the match 24–12.Australia vs. USA 1976 (Part II) by Allyn Freeman on RugbyToday, August 4, 2015
The United States national team participated in the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup. Rugby in the U.S. received a significant boost in 2009 when the International Olympic Committee voted to reinstate rugby into the Summer Olympics beginning in 2016.
Governing bodies
Rugby union played anywhere is governed by World Rugby, formerly known as the International Rugby Board, which is based in Dublin, Ireland. It is the governing and law-making body for rugby globally. World Rugby has over 100 member unions.
USA Rugby is the member union of the United States within World Rugby. USA Rugby is responsible for overseeing rugby union domestically and training the various national teams that they put on the pitch.
Rugby union started to grow in the United States in the 1960s. The United States of America Rugby Football Union formed in 1975, and joined World Rugby (then known as IRFB) in 1987.Bath, p.77
Within USA Rugby, there are several Geographical Unions (GU's) that are charged with governing a specific region of the country. Within these GU's, there are also Local Area Unions (LAU's), which are responsible for governing a specific region within their respective GU's.
Growing participation
More than 98,000 people are registered members of USA Rugby. The numbers of registered rugby members are highest in California, New York and Pennsylvania. On a per-person basis, rugby membership is highest in New England and in the Rocky Mountain states of Colorado and Utah.
There are 32,754 men and 11,790 women playing senior-level rugby. Over 34,000 high school athletes (26,212 boys and 8,706 girls) play rugby for their schools or U19 clubs. Over 2,200 pre-teens (1,988 boys and 228 girls) play organized rugby. With over 20,000 registered females in USA Rugby, the U.S. has more female rugby players than any other country in the world. There are 1,582 referees within USA Rugby.
A 2010 survey by the National Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association ranked rugby as the fastest growing sport in the U.S. In 2014 the Sports and Fitness Industry Association reported rugby as the fastest growing team sport in the U.S. during the previous five years."Sold-Out Chicago Match Marks Rugby’s Rising Popularity" , Bloomberg, October 31, 2014. Rugby participation in the U.S. has grown significantly since 2000, growing by 350% between 2004 and 2011. Between 2006 and 2011, the number of high-school rugby players in the U.S. increased by 84%, with 28,000 players in 650 high school programs. By 2010, the number of registered players in the U.S. had grown to over 81,000, moving the U.S. ahead of traditional rugby powers Wales and Scotland in terms of playing numbers, although the percentage of the U.S. population playing is obviously much lower.
College rugby is the fastest growing college sport in the US. Rugby union is also the fastest growing sport in the US.
Increasing popularity +Record rugby attendances in the U.S. Attendance Category Event Date Ref 100,000+ International tournament (7s) 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens 68,173 International match (15s) South Africa v. New Zealand 61,500 International match (15s) involving the Eagles USA v. New Zealand 37,518 College tournament (7s) 2017 CRC Sevens 14,811 Professional club match (15s) 2016–17 English Premiership "London Irish and Saracens make flying start in the United States", The Guardian, Martin Pengelly, March 13, 2016. 12,085 Domestic professional club match (15s) 2024 Major League Rugby final 11,000 College match (15s) 2011 College Premier Division "CAL WINS TITLE, 21-14, OVER BYU", May 11, 2011.
Rugby union's profile in the U.S. has increased as a result of the International Olympic Committee's announcement in 2009 that rugby union would return to the Olympics in 2016. USA Rugby has formally become a member of the US Olympic Committee, allowing rugby players and programs access to Olympic resources.
Attendance at rugby union matches and tournaments has grown significantly in recent years. Attendance for the USA Sevens tournament has grown steadily from 15,800 in 2004, to 52,000 fans at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas in 2011. The 2011 College Premier Division national championship match between Cal and BYU drew a crowd of 11,000 at Rio Tinto Stadium. A friendly match between the US and Ireland in 2009 drew 10,000 fans to Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, and a friendly match between the US and Italy in 2012 drew over 17,000 fans to BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. This was followed by 20,000-strong crowds at BBVA Compass Stadium vs. Ireland in June 2013 and Scotland in June 2014; these records were smashed in November 2014 however when an historic sell-out crowd of 61,500 watched the match against New Zealand at Soldier Field; the match also drew an average TV audience of 927,000 on NBC."American Rugby Must Keep Momentum Going", This Is American Rugby, November 19, 2014.
Another significant development in the history of U.S. rugby union came at the 2015 London Sevens, the final tournament of the 2014–15 Sevens Series, when the US won its first-ever championship of a Sevens Series event.
Rugby on TV Rugby on TV (Network and basic cable only) Competition Network TV since CRC Sevens The Rugby Network 2024 USA Sevens CBS 2025 Rugby World Cup CBS 2025 Premiership Rugby The Rugby Network 2023 Six Nations Rugby Peacock 2018 Major League Rugby ESPN 2025
The announcement in 2009 that rugby union in its rugby sevens format would by admitted into the 2016 Summer Olympics has meant increased TV exposure. Rugby union came onto NBC's radar following the 2009 announcement. NBC has begun broadcasting several rugby tournaments on network TV, particularly rugby sevens tournaments, considered a television friendly format. NBC has shown the Collegiate Rugby Championship each year since 2010. NBC has also broadcast the USA Sevens tournament each year since 2011. Roughly 5.4 million viewers tuned in to watch the 2011 USA Sevens, helping increase awareness of the sport of rugby. Viewership for the 2012 USA Sevens on NBC earned successful ratings (0.7), beating the ratings for an NHL match (0.4) and five college basketball games (0.1–0.3) played that same weekend. The TV ratings on NBC for the USA Sevens and Collegiate Rugby Championships grew 14% from 2013 to 2014, with the 2014 USA Sevens drawing ratings of 0.7 on Saturday and 1.0 on Sunday."TV Ratings for USA 7s Rise", Rugby Today, January 28, 2014.