There were 11,423 tickets sold for the game
According to reports in the United States of America, the San Diego Legion set a Major League Rugby attendance record on Saturday, in their opening match of the new season, with 11,423 tickets sold for the game. They were victorious in their first match-up of the season, with 33-17 win over the Utah Warriors at their new home, the Snapdragon Stadium.
The previous MLR record was 7,389 for the 2021 championship final, when the now-defunct Los Angeles Giltinis defeated Rugby ATL (of Atlanta) 31-17 in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Snapdragon is the home of the San Diego State Aztecs football team, who represent San Diego State University – the stadium, based on campus, has a capacity is 35,000.
The Legion scored through Faka Pifileti , Dan Pryor, Nate Augspurger, and Christian Poidevin.
San Diego Legion return home Feb. 26 for a game against the New England Free Jacks.
Who are the MLR teams in 2023?
For the 2023 MLR season, there are 12 sides.
The roster comprises of new team Chicago Hounds, Dallas Jackals, Houston SabreCats, New England Free Jacks, NOLA Gold, Old Glory DC, Rugby ATL, Rugby New York Ironworkers, the Legion, Seattle Seawolves, Toronto Arrows, and Utah Warriors.
Can any of them set another MLR attendance record this season?
Winners of the MLR title
There have been four completed MLR seasons so far, since the first in 2018 – owing to the Covid-19 chaos. To date there have been three different winners, though only two of them still compete in the MLR.
Related: Gilgronis and Giltinis out of MLR
Those winners are:
2018 winners: Seattle Seawolves
2019 winners: Seattle Seawolves
2020 winners: N/A
2021 winners: LA Giltinis
2022 winners: Rugby United New York
So Seattle have won the first two and they were the beaten finalists in the last instalment of the competition too. It was the 2021 final that set the previous MLR attendance record.
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