In 2006, the city of Glendale was looking to rebrand itself. The enclave felt it needed an identity that would separate it from the city of Denver, and that it needed a central drawing point to bring people into town.

So Glendale did what no city in America had done: It built a rugby stadium in the heart of its downtown and labeled itself “Rugbytown USA,” a brand that aimed to capitalize on the momentum of the sport. It appears to have worked.

“In Glendale, we market our image through rugby, and because of that we’ve gotten developers to take notice of opportunities within the city,” said Linda Cassaday, Glendale’s deputy city manager. “And now people around the country and around the world want to come to Glendale because of rugby. That’s all part of the economic development plan that is the stadium.”

It’s a plan that — a decade after the building of the expansive Infinity Park as the first rugby-specific, municipally owned stadium in the country — has helped a revitalization of the Glendale. In addition to the 5,500-seat stadium, the complex features a park, a sports center and an event center that’s made it the cultural, social and athletic hub for the city of 4,184 residents.

“Rugby has transformed all of the Glendale hotels on the weekend, because we’ve gone from around 59 percent occupancy on the weekends to over 90 percent,” said Glendale Mayor Mike Dunafon. “And the stadium has not only given an identity to Glendale — it’s changed the heart of Denver and added another international sport to the mix here.”

Since Infinity Park debuted, it’s been the home of the Glendale Raptors, an amateur club program consisting of six levels of competition (men’s elite, men’s development, women’s elite, women’s development, men’s 7s and men’s U-20).

Starting next year the Raptors men’s elite team will become part of the latest American professional sports league, Major League Rugby, which is set to debut in nine cities. The Raptors will be one of the original franchises, with the other amateur teams within the program set to rebrand under another Glendale-related nickname.

It’s the latest rugby-related windfall for Glendale.

“All the local restaurants identify themselves with rugby, and beyond Glendale, all the Raptors games are broadcast in high-def to as many as 110 nations at once,” Dunafon said. “We’re more famous worldwide than we are in Colorado, and with the MLR that’s only continue to help our local, national and international profile.”

The men’s elite team is led by David Williams, who’s in his first year with the franchise after 16 years of experience with the Eagles, the U.S. national team. The Raptors compete for the Major Rugby Championship, the first season in the history of the program that players on the men’s elite team have been paid.

Williams said he has 12 full-time players on his roster and 18 part-time players; full-time players are paid for the season by stipend in the range of $10,000 to $15,000, while part-time players (all of whom have other full-time careers) are paid on a per-match basis.

And next year, as the Raptors enter MLR, player salaries will increase significantly as professional rugby — like other growing American professional sports such as soccer and lacrosse — continues to find its footing.

“Major League Soccer wasn’t what it is today many years ago — they had many failures and had to go through those growing pains,” said Williams, who coached the Denver Stampede in the now-defunct Professional Rugby Organization last year. “But what the MLS has done, and what the MLL and NLL have done, is great model for rugby to follow — they’ve grown into the franchise model and they’re getting great support from their local communities.”

The city of Glendale owns the entirety of the Glendale Raptors organization for now, but next year the men’s elite team will be under new ownership as part of MLR.

But the city’s role in getting the franchise off the ground extends well past building the stadium and collecting ticket revenue — Glendale is financing the Raptors’ roster payments this year, something that was worked into the city budget in anticipation of the new league launching next year.

That, Williams said, has made the Raptors (10-1) perhaps the best of the nine potential landing spots for top free-agent players looking to join an MLR team for next season.

“I’m fortunate here in Glendale that the city’s given me the salary cap for this year, and we’ve gone out and played the other teams with the same salary cap and we’ve beaten them,” Williams said. “With that success and the fact that we play in, hands down, the best rugby facility in the country, lots of talented players want to be in Glendale. There’s a lot of momentum here.”

The Raptors have six Eagles players on their roster: Ben Tarr, Ben Landry, Shaun Davies, Will Magie, Bryce Campbell and John Quill.

With that sort of talent — as well as the physicality, speed and accuracy that Williams demands from his players on the pitch — this past decade may have been a mere prelude to something much greater within the walls of Infinity Park, and around it.

“The overall atmosphere of professionalism with the club here is very unique within the States, because you don’t really see that at other places,” said Ben Landry, one of the Raptors’ and Eagles’ top players. “We train together in the mornings and then do field sessions together in the afternoons, and we all meet up at as a team later at night. That’s not typical of a U.S. club, and that’s what separates us from other teams and that’s what will continue to make Glendale a rugby destination.”