Though there are risks, Major League Rugby fans should ultimately cheer the signing of MLR players to foreign club contracts. With the notable departures of Bryce Campbell (London Irish), Paul Mullen (Newcastle Falcons), and Paul Lasike (Harlequins), alarm bells have been sounding for fans concerned about dilution of the American talent pool. This concern is misplaced.

The American talent pool has no lack of athletes. The ingredient in short supply is experience, and the more high-level game experience available, the better the talent pool will become. Over time. Still, skeptics are right to observe that superstars leaving the continent might cause a short-term drop in quality. Even that could be problematic if it threatens attendance or fan engagement.

But the growth of domestic rugby is more about getting in front of the unfamiliar American fan. Those fans will be less sensitive to overall quality, as they have no basis against which to compare it. Parity and excitement will be more important to growing the game in the states in these formative years, which should limit the downside risk of shipping some of our best abroad.

What USA Rugby Needs

USA Rugby needs players with quality experience. The population, the interest in contact sports, the athletic abilities, and the size of the market are all set up to make the USA a power in World Rugby. All that said, the domestic game is clearly nowhere near power status at the moment. The vast majority of American children grow up having virtually no contact with rugby. When I was younger, I think my only knowledge of rugby came from the Friends episode where Ross plays to impress his English girlfriend (and the portrayal of rugby is laughably inaccurate even there).

In New Zealand, kids grow up with rugby balls in their hands. The instincts they hone over a life in the game cannot be easily replicated, no matter how rigorous or well-designed the training regimen. Talk about competing with New Zealand is, of course, a fantasy in this era of USA Rugby. But to start closing the gap, we need to start moving in that direction. More experience. More chances to learn the instincts that facilitate the split-second decision making needed to win against world-class sides.

Having a domestic professional league is probably the single most important element for driving increased experience levels in the USA. That’s why MLR is so critical. The more people that can play more games at the highest possible level, the more skill will be built up in the domestic rugby community. The more players who can train four or five days a week, rather than two evenings a week when work permits, the better the player pool will be.

And all that gets passed down. The players learning their trade over the course of years become the coaches that teach those lessons in a matter of weeks. And the kids watching those players become the players of tomorrow. It’s a virtuous cycle of improvement. Given how low the existing base of knowledge is, gains should be quicker for the USA in the early going than their competitor nations. But it all relies on the survival and success of MLR.

What MLR Needs

Fans. Major League Rugby is a business, and there needs to be a path to making money to keep the league sustainable. For that pathway to exist, MLR needs fans, plain and simple. Fans pay the bills, through ad revenue, TV rights, ticket sales, and kit sales, among others.

And this is where the loss of players to foreign clubs comes into play. Intelligent minds can disagree over whether losing a Paul Lasike is going to put off fans. In one sense, it seems like the answer should be an obvious yes. In most cases, stars put people in seats. If losing MLR’s best players causes MLR to lose fans, then the whole concept of a domestic league is at risk.

But, in MLR’s case, it isn’t star power that is going to grow the fan base. If we’re being truthful, while Paul Lasike may be the most exciting player from MLR season one, the average American still has no idea who he is. New fans are coming because the matches are entertaining and the culture and environment are enjoyable. They don’t know Paul Lasike from Paul Mullen from Paul Rudd. And they don’t know how many knock-ons are too many or how many lineouts should be turned over.

What we need to bring in the marginal American fan is excitement, atmosphere, and spectacle. These things do not require individual star power. They require parity, attacking play, and an enjoyable environment on match day, all of which MLR offers. Losing a few players, even the best ones, won’t change that.

There is, of course, already a community of rugby fans in America. To that community, quality of play is important. Losing a Paul Lasike will result in less enjoyment of watching MLR matches. But if there’s one thing you can say about the existing American rugby community, it’s that there is an incredible amount of investment in the success of the domestic game. While they may prefer to see Paul Mullen packed down at tight-head in Houston, they aren’t about to abandon MLR.

Looking Ahead

Assuming this trend of the best MLR players signing overseas continues, we can expect a few things from MLR’s future.

The USA Eagles will improve. Getting more of the top talent playing in the highest levels of club rugby will continue to enhance the play of the national team. MLR will improve. Yes, even with the departure of the best handful of players each year, Major League Rugby should see continued and sustained improvement in form. Having eight or more teams of players training and playing at the professional level will provide enough experience across the board that every team will see significant gains in the first few years, even without their stars. That will please new fans and old fans alike, and should comfort those who fear that the talent pool is too thin. The attractiveness of MLR roster spots will increase. Once MLR has established itself as a reliable gateway to an overseas contract, it will increase demand for MLR roster spots, ultimately bringing in even more talent.

But for it to all work, Major League Rugby needs to make money. It needs the fan support to generate more cash than it spends. And whether the American community will support that remains to be seen.