Major League Rugby Extends Agreement with ESPN

Major League Rugby (MLR), North America’s highest rugby competition, and ESPN announced today an extension of its broadcast and streaming agreement, ensuring the league’s matches remain available across ESPN networks and platforms for the 2027 season. 

Under the agreement, Sunday Night Rugby, the flagship program of MLR, will include a featured primetime matchup each week that will exclusively stream live on the ESPN App. In addition, five MLR matches will air on ESPN’s linear channels. 

“From Sunday Night Rugby to the MLR Playoffs, ESPN empowered our league to bring our stories to millions of viewers around the country, and we’re thrilled in 2027 to once again be able to leverage ESPN to showcase our sport to an ever-growing national audience,” said Alex Magleby, co-President of MLR. “Extending the agreement for our flagship Sunday Night Rugby program illuminates that the hard work we’re doing is paying off, and we’re focused on making MLR easier to watch for fans everywhere with additional announcements soon.”

The extension comes on the heels of consistent growth across MLR’s broadcast efforts and channels, including a 25 percent increase year over year for matches broadcast on ESPN2. The league also experienced substantive growth across its own digital platforms, including a 96 percent growth in organic views on its Instagram channel, 53 percent growth in YouTube views, and 714 percent growth on TikTok year over year.

Sunday Night Rugby positioned MLR alongside other major U.S. sport properties as consistent appointment viewing. The live broadcast combines in-studio analysis with an elevated production value to provide a top-tier experience for die-hard and casual fans alike. 

For more information on MLR, please visit majorleague.rugby/.

About Major League Rugby

MLR is a professional sports league representing the highest rugby competition in North America. Launched in 2018, the league’s current five teams stretch from coast-to-coast in the United States. Each week, fans encounter a fast, physical and action-packed sport, with festival and entertaining game day experiences. MLR continues to prove that everyone is a rugby fan, whether they know it or not.

The MLR has taken on tremendous interest over the past few seasons, spurred by grassroots initiatives, flourishing festival atmospheres, competitive parity, and the announcement of the U.S. as the host of the 2031 Men’s Rugby World Cup and 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup. Eyes across the globe focus on Major League Rugby as the league continues to expand North American rugby fandom.

Media Contact:

MLR: Johnathan McGinty | [email protected]

ESPN: Christine Calcagno | [email protected]