Major League Rugby is starting this year with 7 teams. There are apparently expansion teams to come in 2019. The regular season is just 8 games. The SaberCats are working on a permanent stadium at the Houston Sports Park. Here is the SaberCats schedule for 2018. All of this is subject to change. Exhibition All of these games are at Constellation Field in Sugar Land. Saturday, January 6 Houston 50-7 Seattle Saracens Saturday, January 13 Houston v. Vancouver Ravens 7:00 pm Saturday, January 20 Houston v. Uruguay National Team 7:00 pm Saturday, January 27 Houston v. James Bay AA (Victoria, BC) 7:00 pm Saturday, February 3 Houston v. Capital Selects (Falls Church, VA) 7:00 pm Saturday, February 10 Houston v. Chicago Lions 7:00 pm Saturday, February 17 Houston v. New York AC 7:00 pm Saturday, February 24 Houston v. New Orleans Gold (MLR) 7:00 pm Saturday, March 3 Houston v. Ontario Arrows (Toronto, ON) 7:00 pm Wednesday, March 28 Houston v. New Orleans Gold (MLR) 7:00 pm Saturday, April 7 Houston v. Mystic River (Boston, MA) 7:000 pm MLR Regular Season Locations to be determined. Saturday, April 21 Houston v. New Orleans Gold 7:00 pm Saturday, April 28 Houston v. Austin Elite 7:00 pm Saturday, May 5 San Diego Legion v. Houston 9:30 pm Saturday, May 19 New Orleans Gold v. Houston 4:00 pm Saturday, May 26 Houston v. Utah Warriors (Salt Lake City, UT) 7:00 pm Saturday, June 2 Houston v. Seattle Seawolves 8:00 pm Saturday, June 9 Glendale (CO) Raptors v. Houston 9:00 pm Saturday, June 23 Utah Warriors (Salt Lake City, UT) v. Houston 9:00 pm
Dutch Lions FC NPSL @HDLFCGamecast 17h17 hours ago next set of open tryouts for our 2018 @NPSLSoccer squad will be on March 17th!! To register head to http://www.godutchlions.com #NPSL #GoLionspic.twitter.com/IMa8IQK3py
NPSL Verified account @NPSLSoccer 5h5 hours ago warm welcome to @fcbvillecoyotes (Brownsville, TX) as the league's newest expansion team! The club will compete in the South Region’s Lone Star Conference. http://goo.gl/4so9PC #NPSL
oh yeah...I can get to at least a couple of NPSL games a year up here. Most NPSL teams up here are as good as their PDL counterparts.
The plan to build a rugby stadium for the SaberCats at HSP is going through. http://www.chron.com/sports/article/Houston-signs-off-on-3-2M-stadium-deal-with-12558481.php The city money is going to reimburse the cost of additional parking lots.
Great news for Houston rugby. It’ll be interesting to see how MLR does. Every professional rugby competition in the USA has failed, though US amateur club rugby is the biggest in the world. The Guinness Pro 14 competition oh Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and one of the best in the world was seriously considering Houston for American expansion. I imagine the big international test matches will still be at BBVACS though.
Definitely. There was some internet chatter about the Dash maybe moving to this new stadium but I think that was just talk. It will potentially open things up for lower-level soccer and rugby tournaments at HSP.
Speaking of which: http://www.bbvacompassstadium.com/n...bbva-compass-stadium-to-face-scotland-june-16
A couple of updates on Houston Sabercats rugby. They are going to play their 2018 regular season games at Dyer Stadium. https://houstonsabercats.com/mlr-schedule/ Saturday, April 21 Houston v. New Orleans Gold 2:00 pm Saturday, April 28 Houston v. Austin Elite 2:30 pm Saturday, May 26 Houston v. Utah Warriors 5:00 pm Saturday, June 2 Houston v. Seattle Seawolves 8:00 pm I just noticed that the home games were mostly moved to the afternoons. Unfortunately the home opener conflicts with the Dynamo-Toronto game. Major League Rugby has signed an agreement with ESPN for coverage. I'm wondering if this will be part of ESPN+ MLR already had a deal with CBS Sports Network to show 1 league game a week and the playoffs. https://www.usmlr.com/news/major-league-rugby-and-espn-announce-rights-agreement
Most of the club rugby matches will have been played by April 21 with our season winding down except for playoffs, so the traditional rugby starting time of 2PM will allow the local rugby players to go and watch MLR. I think all the matches except for the game of the week (CBS) will be on ESPN. The Sabercats have loaned out their reserve players to the the local club D2 teams in the area which has increased the quality of the Houston matches in the D2 over our rivals in other Texas cities.
Houston FC @houstonfcpdl 6h6 hours ago Here's this season's home schedule. Come out an cheer for the Black and Gold! https://www.hfcpdl.com/hfc-schedule #Path2Pro #WeAreHouston #StrikeBlackGoldpic.twitter.com/QQPVqMOKUo
PDL’s AHFC Royals- Ambitious Youth Soccer Club takes the next step https://txsoccerjournal.com/2018/03...itious-youth-soccer-club-takes-the-next-step/ The club will play its matches on the modern FieldTurf at Tully Stadium, a Spring Branch ISD multi-use facility in Houston. To further demonstrate Albion’s commitment to its PDL expansion, the club has plans to build a new stadium at its current West Houston grounds in the next few years. When completed this facility will serve as home for the Royals and the new Women’s Premier Soccer League team Albion is also starting up this year. Gardner’s coaching staff is in place for the 2018 season. The Royals assistant coach is another former Hurricane, Jorge Carrasco, who also played with Cruz Azul youth teams in Mexico. The goalkeeper coach is Brett Collier, a St. Mary’s University player who served as a graduate goalkeeper trainer at the college after his graduation in 2010. The Royals will rely on established relationships with other Albion partners to fill out its medical and other training needs. Gardner is excited for the start of the PDL season and the demonstrated long-term commitment Albion is taking to become the soccer development program of choice in the Houston region.
The 2019 Major League Rugby schedule is out: https://www.usmlr.com/schedules/ There are 9 teams this year with a 16 game schedule running January 26 through June 1. TV coverage is on CBS Sports Network and ESPN+ Houston Sabercats home games will be at the new AVEVA Stadium at Houston Sports Park. Sabercats 2019 schedule: Times are CT Saturday, January 26 @ Austin Elite 7:00 pm Saturday, February 9 @ San Diego Legion 9:00 pm CBSSN Friday, February 22 TORONTO ARROWS 7:00 pm Saturday, March 2 RUGBY UNITED NY 7:00 pm Sunday, March 10 @ Seattle Seawolves 7:00 pm Saturday, March 16 NOLA GOLD 7:00 pm Saturday, March 23 UTAH WARRIORS 7:00 pm Saturday, April 6 @ Glendale Raptors 7:00 pm Friday, April 12 SEATTLE SEAWOLVES 7:00 pm CBSSN Sunday, April 21 @ Toronto Arrows 1:00 pm Saturday, April 27 SAN DIEGO LEGION 7:00 pm Sunday, May 5 @ Rugby United NY 4:00 pm CBSSN Saturday, May 11 GLENDALE RAPTORS 7:00 pm Saturday, May 18 @ NOLA Gold 2:00 pm Saturday, May 25 AUSTIN ELITE 6:00 pm CBSSN Saturday, June 1 @ Utah Warriors 7:00 pm CBSSN
Glad Major League Rugby is expanding their schedule. And 2 new expansion teams this year (NY and Toronto) with more on the horizon. Hope the new Houston Sports Park stadium facility will be finished by the first home game in late Feb. Very good signs for MLR.
Yeah, the 16 game season is much better. It looks like at least 3 more teams (Atlanta, DC, and New England) in 2020 with other possibilities. I'm guessing they will go to conferences when they get to 12 or more teams. I'd be surprised if the league goes beyond 16 or 18 regular season games for the foreseeable future. I read something on Americas Rugby News saying that they are running behind at AVEVA Stadium because of all the rain this fall. I'm wondering if that is why there hasn't been any information on season tickets yet. I'm really hoping that the new stadium is done on time. I would really prefer to not go back to Dyer if possible.
I’m surprised that Toronto gets a 2nd pro rugby club. I mean they already have the Wolfpack who are currently playing in the Rugby Championship League and they nearly got promoted to play in the Rugby Super League.
MLR is Rugby Union and the Wolfpack are Rugby League. I guess they think the Arrows can hold their own in the Toronto area.
I just read that Houston Aveva Stadium is scheduled to host the USA v Brazil Americas Rugby Championship match on Feb 23rd. Hope that the stadium is complete and ready for that match as it would help stimulate more interest in rugby and the Sabercats.
Thanks for the update. I was wondering why the home opener was on Friday, February 22. Double rugby weekend!
The Sabercats have added two home exhibition games. Saturday, January 12 Austin Elite 7:00 pm Saturday, January 19 Glendale Raptors 7:00 pm Their website says that ticket sales are coming soon.