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TUKWILA, Wash. — On a cool evening in late March, a moment of shock pierces through the capacity crowd at Starfire Stadium.

The game clock ticks past 80 minutes. The visiting San Diego Legion cling to their 28-22 lead in the final possession and boot the ball into the air, sealing the match for good measure. There will be no comeback win for the Seattle Seawolves, as the onlookers have seen many times before. The rally falls short. In the brief history of Major League Rugby, the Seawolves have lost their first home game.

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But a deafening roar of applause soon emerges as the Seawolves come to greet their fans. At least 3,600 of them came to the game, one of the largest crowds the team has had to date. The emotions of the loss escape consciousness. The fans just want to interact with their favorite players. For more than half an hour, they get their wish. Several players, from both teams, stick around for autograph and picture requests, per usual.

Eric Duechle, the Seawolves’ 6-foot-4, frohawk-sporting flanker, walks down the line of exiting fans. He shakes as many hands as possible. He holds conversations with the adults and signs balls for the children. He gave up the Air Force for professional rugby; for all of this.

The appreciation makes the sacrifices worth it.

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“I just want to say that I love Seattle,” Duechle says. “I love the reception that we’ve had. I’ve never felt like I was wanted so much before or just a part of something bigger than myself.

“With this team, you just feel it.”

The Seawolves, who won the inaugural Major League Rugby championship in 2018, are Seattle’s youngest professional team in a startup league in a sport that has yet to grip the U.S. Most of the team’s players are foreigners. The Emerald City is already crowded with teams, too, and in sports far more popular in the U.S. It’s easy to doubt the sustainability of the club.

But those close to the Seawolves think differently. They believe MLR is built to last – that professional rugby can last in America, and that what they’ve given up will be worth it in the end. The team’s long-term success hinges on the embrace of rugby in the Seattle area. The same goes for the league as a whole.

Progress, as they see it, has been trending upward.

Photo: Genna Martin, SEATTLEPI

'Nothing is like playing in front of this crowd'

Take one look up the stands of any Seawolves home match and you'll see a packed house, attentive to rugby’s constant motion. The team has sold out every home match in its short history. Standing-room only is common. Team-branded beer (the Seawolves have a partnership with Elysian Brewing), rainbow scarves, jerseys and coats are sprinkled through the mass.



There’s a unique kinship in the Seawolves’ crowds at Starfire. During the second home game of the inaugural season last year, the speakers blew out right before the singer could do the national anthem. She tried to go ahead anyways, but no one could hear her. Then a man in the stands yelled, 'Oh, f--- it' and started singing himself. The rest of the audience joined him. The fans have sung the anthem, in unison, before matches ever since.

For a fan base still learning the nuances of the sport – Seawolves players and personnel have noticed a growing number of new rugby fans at their matches – there’s a respect shown toward the traditions of the game. The stadium is dead silent for the home team’s kick attempts, just like anywhere else in the world. The fans cheer on the team’s mini victories in scrums, mauls and rucks. And the roar emanating from the crowd on Seattle’s fastbreaks can be blaring.

The combination of passionate Seattle sports fans and rugby devotees has made for a one-of-a-kind atmosphere at Starfire.

“It’s a pretty special set up we have here,” Seawolves flyhalf/inside center Shalom Suniula, a New Zealand native, says. “The crowd that we have and the people of Seattle just love sports. … I’ve played in front of large crowds, sold-out stadiums, but nothing is like playing in front of this crowd because you feel a connection to your town, if that makes sense.”

The Seawolves are greeted by groups of fans on the road, too. The small handful of supporters they’d have for away games at the beginning of last year have grown to at least 40 people per road game today, according to team manager and communications director Kevin Flynn. A massive swath of people? No, but a representation of progress.

The Seawolves have a partner called the ‘’Rugby 100 Club’' that’s dedicated to bringing Seattle fans to the away games of their choice, and offering an exclusive fan experience.

“That’s certainly promising to know people are willing to put their hands in their pocket and say we’re going to support the team,” Flynn says.

Seawolves’ ticket sales have grown 60% from 2018 to 2019, according to team co-owner Shane Skinner. Skinner declined to comment on the team’s number of season ticket holders, but says it’s in the ‘thousands.’ The team’s 2020 home jerseys will have the name of every season ticket holder etched in the signature blue stripes.

In addition to Elysian Brewing, the Seawolves hold partnerships with T-Mobile, Virginia Mason, Ivar’s, and BECU, among others. The team’s matches are broadcast regionally on ROOT Sports and nationally on ESPN+. Select MLR matches are also aired on CBS.

The Seawolves led the league in TV viewership on both CBS and ROOT Sports in 2018, and they’re on pace to do so again in 2019.



“You gotta get people (to the games) so they can experience it,” Skinner says. “Once they do, it sells itself.”

Photo: Genna Martin, SEATTLEPI

Rugby struggles in America

Rugby is recognized as a growing sport in the United States, but its leagues have struggled to stick. The sport’s record in the American mainstream is filled with disappointments; common shortcomings are in financial support and resources.

The first professional rugby league in North America, PRO (Professional Rugby Organization) Rugby, launched in April 2016 with five teams. It folded eight months later.

One of the longest-tenured club rugby leagues to date was the USA Rugby Super League, which lasted 15 years, from 1997 to 2012. The league had as many as 18 teams in 2007 and 2008, but had whittled down to nine clubs by its last year. The Super League was replaced by the USA Elite Rugby Club in 2013. That folded after one season.

Still, there’s a lot of optimism within the Seawolves organization that Major League Rugby, the latest rugby start-up league, can break the cycle of let downs. MLR teams are driven by partnerships with private investors.

The Seawolves were one of seven clubs nationally to kick off the inaugural season in 2018. Two more teams were added for 2019. Three more – clubs in Boston, Washington D.C. and Atlanta – are coming in 2020. Another team in Dallas is expected in 2021. The league will be divided into two conferences starting next year.

“This is the beginning of something special,” Suniula says. “I think the previous attempts were more exclusive, where this is more inclusive, which is what rugby is.”

In a recent interview with Reuters, MLR commissioner Dean Howes said professional rugby is "here to stay" in North America.

"MLR is the first time the North American sports model has been applied to the global game of rugby,"Howes says.

Seawolves coach Richie Walker said he believes the sport is positioned to explode in the U.S. because of the high number of youth athletes in the country.

“The top countries that play rugby, they see (the) USA as the sleeping giant,” Walker says.

But with a start-up comes a financial struggle.

Some players get what Flynn calls “minimal” contracts, a sharp contrast to the multi-million dollar deals common in the big professional sports leagues in the U.S. The MLR’s salary cap is $450,000 for 2019, according to Rugby Today. The nine teams currently in the league have between 29 and 40 players.

It’s pay-to-play in some situations, where players can make as little as hundreds of dollars for game appearances. Some players can live off their rugby salary, but most can’t. The Seawolves can assist players with housing and other logistics, but the reality is most players need an additional source of income to pay rent and bills, and to buy food.

Duechle, who spent 10 years in the Air Force before committing to rugby full time, says he wouldn’t have been able to play for the Seawolves had he not saved money from working in Iraq. He sold his California home so he could play a second season with Seattle. He plans to sell the apartment he owns in Kentucky, too. He hopes a contract for a third MLR season will pay him better, but he’s not sure it will. His only income right now comes from the team.

He currently rents out a home in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. He shares it with his sister and a close friend.

“To do this now is worth any cost,” Duechle says of the sacrifices he’s made. “I’d be a bouncer if I had to, you know? … It’s not a lot of money, but it’s being a professional athlete, which is my dream. When I’m older and look back on my life, I want to say that I did this.

“I’m betting on the fact that (MLR) is going to get bigger and my contract next year will hold me a little better. But if it (doesn’t), I don’t care. I’m willing to start over for this dream.”



Flynn, the team manager, says he gets a stipend for the Seawolves, but he “100 percent” needs a full-time job to support his family. He currently works at a plumbing company with a few other Seawolves players.

“There are growing pains. It’s a startup company,” Flynn says. “In many ways, I like the fact that I’m not getting paid because no one ever questions your motive. … Although it’s a struggle for my family because I’m gone all the time, it’s also something we’re passionate about.”

The Seawolves are hopeful that they can help foster the same kind of passion for the game down to the elementary-school ranks. A priority for the club, and Skinner’s top goal this year, is getting rugby into Seattle-area schools.

That process has already begun. Dion Crowder, for instance – a wing for the Seawolves from Illinois – volunteers at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle and takes teammates with him to classes at Sherwood Forest Elementary School in Bellevue. The team has several community programs, too, including ones dedicated for Native Americans, the disabled and veterans. In an effort to make themselves visible in the community, the Seawolves hope the diversity of races, body types and statures of their players show kids that anyone can play rugby.

The team’s presence has helped bring awareness to the sport but exposing the game to American youth, the team says, is key to professional rugby’s survival in this country. The goal in Seattle, like many other cities across the U.S., is to one day have pro teams that don’t need to depend on foreign talent to fill roster spots (less than half of the Seawolves players are American).

The Saracens, Seattle’s longtime elite club rugby program with a men’s and women’s team, has become a Triple-A affiliate of sorts to the Seawolves. Many of the current Seawolves players got their start with the Saracens.

“This won’t survive unless we’re feeding it,” Flynn, who’s the president of the Saracens on top of his role with the Seawolves, says. “Every other American sport has things feeding it naturally. We don’t have it feeding naturally. We’re going to have to create it.”

Photo: Genna Martin, SEATTLEPI

A worthwhile endeavor

After a decade in the Air Force – a journey that had taken him overseas to Iraq and Afghanistan, and all over the U.S. – just two weeks after being promoted from Captain to Major, Duechle made the decision to get out. He had an epiphany: he realized he didn’t want the predictable, secure Air Force life.

He wanted to pursue rugby full time – the sport he’d fallen in love with as a senior in high school. A risky undertaking with financial uncertainty, sure, but he wanted more than just a job. He wanted an adventure – to be a part of rugby history in America.

It’s led him to play for club teams in cities like Long Beach, Calif., Washington D.C., and Seattle. He won a championship with the Saracens in 2015. He’s gotten three national titles in the U.S.

But playing in MLR with the Seawolves has been a second-to-none experience for the 32-year-old Duechle. He never thought that rugby would become a professional sport in the U.S. – at least, while he was still young enough to play.

Starfire sells out consistently with passionate fans. The game atmosphere is electric. When the club won the league’s inaugural championship last year, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan honored the team at city hall. The Seawolves’ flag was raised and the club had a day named after it.

"Our national team doesn't even get covered the way we do, which is pretty amazing," Duechle says.

In a sport, and a league, with an uncertain long-term future in America, what has been certain is the support; the kind of recognition for playing rugby that's a first, Deuchle says. All that passion and effort toward the game's growth may not be in vain. Time will tell.

But making the sacrifices, at least, are an easy decision.

“I really love this city and want the city to know that,” Duechle says. “I’m going to fight for them. I think about that whenever we travel. Whenever we put on the jersey, we’re representing the city.”

Ben Arthur is a sports reporter for the SeattlePI. He can be reached by email at benjaminarthur@seattlepi.com. Follow him on twitter at @benyarthur.