Editor’s Note: The first running of this report has been refuted by the team, stating they remain in contract negotiations with multiple venues.

It’s been a thrilling road to the Major League Rugby debut for the New England Free Jacks. Announced officially in September 2018, the Free Jacks have wasted absolutely zero time in preparing themselves to enter the increasingly contentious competition; trudging a trail through the tough to crack New Englander’s exterior and right in their collective hearts.

They took to the pitch just weeks after that announcement to take on the Toronto Arrows and then shortly thereafter to take on Rugby Untied New York in the first look of the Cold War rivalry, both MLR 2019 playoff teams mind you. Spiced in there was a walloping from the Utah Warriors in which few details came from other than a frightening scoreline. Then in the spring, the team took on the A-sides of the four provincial Irish teams in a thrilling Cara Cup. Finally, bookending their first exhibition schedule, they collected their first win over Lansdowne RFC.

And while the team has been working away to refine the roster, style of play, and identity, the exhibition season served a secondary important benchmark in their path to professional rugby. A professional team needs a professional venue, after all, and while the upstart organization had a road map for plenty of things, where to play games remained much in the air.

Demoing three venues across the Boston region, the Free Jacks took to Harvard Mignone Field, Union Point Sports Complex in Weymouth, and the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton. Each offered different strengths to a developing franchise and the fans in attendance; each offered difficulties to overcome in the allure of drawing a regular fandom and ensuring a place that doesn’t off-put your potential ‘walk-ins.’

A venue deal at last nears completion. For those who made their way out to the spring games, it should come as little surprise that the ICC in Canton remains atop the list of likely venues, according to multiple sources. Although according to team officials, negotiations remain in place among a pair of venues. The team has refuted an earlier version of this report that the conversation was solely in the finalization process with the ICC.

The ICC exhibited a festival of rugby as the Free Jacks took on Munster earlier in the year. The day opened with a club showcase primer, as the home Boston Irish Wolfhounds dazzled in a display of the grassroots level that has long carried the sport in America. The Free Jacks then took to the pitch and put forth their strongest performance of the Cara Cup, sticking to Munster until the waning moments of the contest. Again a club opener kicked things off against Lansdowne in a rugby-filled day.

Nearly 3000 were in attendance for the Munster match, as the Gaelic Atheltic Association field at the ICC was a sea of eager onlookers.

The grounds accommodated more naturally for the event than any of the other options. The money the team will invest in the venue will likely take them the furthest for the price… Union Point wasn’t even permitted for permanent stand fixtures as an example, the ICC has such fixtures already in place. And the partnership seems to be the best in allowing the team to run the operation while remaining under the spectrum of the operating venue. The ICC also features an already existing pub with drinks and food available. Sadly, that would mean no more blowup pub, though.

While 2020 games would be speculated to be played on that GAA field showcased in the Munster and Lansdowne matches, an initiative would appear in order to build out the rugby pitch that the Wolfhounds currently call their own, eventually possibly seeing the Free Jacks transition to that field as well. The project will require the culling of some existing tree boundaries around the pitch (taking it to proper World Rugby dimensions) and the erection of further permanent seating, but it’s an initiative that will ultimately give another club level team a high-level field to play on as well, considering locally Mystic River Rugby and Boston RFC both find themselves on vastly superior fields. Such a move embodies the betterment of the sport on multiple levels that MLR holds so dear to their initiative.

The initial venue deal is an important beacon in the first steps for the budding franchise. Long-term goals remain for the team to creep their way closer into Boston as the years go by. It’s the hub of tourism in the area and for all the perks the ICC and Canton offer, being 30+ minutes from the heart of metro Boston without an abundance of transit options to get there will always limit the turnout available. Just ask the New England Revolution, who despite being one of MLS’ winningest franchises have struggled to draw attendance, regularly finding themselves in the bottom of the league in that metric.

But one must start somewhere and there is not a better-envisioned start than what we bore witness to earlier this year all thanks to the ICC. It’s been a process to break down the walls put up by the GAA, but seeing the ICC packed out with spectators was surely something they couldn’t turn down. Maximize the partnership correctly and they should be able to draw intrigue to their own GAA measures as well.

The completion of the venue contract negotiations is expected to come in the next few weeks, with team hopes to announce such news prior to the start of the 2019 Rugby World Cup. The Free Jacks have already started taking season-ticket deposits and full sales can commence once a contract is complete and the venue is official. There are even rumblings that, in a St. Patrick’s bonanza similar to what kicked off the Cara Cup, the Free Jacks will open their home schedule March 14, 2020, regardless of venue, although the league has not made official the 2020 schedule and is not expected to do so for some time. Don’t miss your chance to become a founding member season ticket holder, you can join yours truly in supporting the team and earning a lifetime status for your early commitment.