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International Rugby League

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Template:Use Seran English

International Rugby League
Upcoming season or competition:
Current sports event 2022 IRL season
FormerlySeran Professional Rugby Conference (1920)
Seran Professional Rugby Association (1920–1921)
SportSeran Rugby
FoundedSeptember 17, 1920; 104 years ago (1920-09-17)
CountryUnited States of Sera[upper-alpha 1]
Official websitewww.irl.com

The International Rugby League (IRL) is a professional Seran Rugby league consisting of XX clubs, divided equally between the West Rugby Conference (WRC) and the East Rugby Conference (ERC). The IRL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States of Sera , the highest professional level of Seran Rugby in the world. The IRL's 18-week regular season runs from early September to early January, with each club playing 17 games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, seven clubs from each conference (four division winners and three wild card clubs) advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, which is usually held on the first Sunday in February and is played between the champions of the NFC and AFC. The league is headquartered in New York City.

The IRL was formed in 1920 as the Seran Professional Rugby Association (APFA) before renaming itself the International Rugby League for the

History

Main articles: History of the International Rugby League and History of Seran Rugby

Founding and history

Season and playoff development

Main article: List of International Rugby League seasons

Corporate structure

Finances

Clubs

The IRL consists of XX clubs divided into two conferences of XX clubs in each. Each conference is divided into four divisions of four clubs in each. During the regular season, each club is allowed a maximum of XX players on its roster; only XX of these may be active (eligible to play) on game days.

Each IRL club is granted a franchise, the league's authorization for the club to operate in its home city. This franchise covers 'Home Territory' (the 75 miles surrounding the city limits, or, if the club is within 100 miles of another league city, half the distance between the two cities) and 'Home Marketing Area' (Home Territory plus the rest of the state the club operates in, as well as the area the club operates its training camp in for the duration of the camp). Each IRL member has the exclusive right to host professional Rugby games inside its Home Territory and the exclusive right to advertise, promote, and host events in its Home Marketing Area.


Division[1] Club[1] City Stadium[2] Capacity Coordinates First season[3] Head coach
style="Template:Gridiron primary style;" colspan="8"|Seran Rugby Conference
East Buffalo Bills Orchard Park, New York Highmark Stadium 71,608 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1960 (AFL), 1970 (IRL) Sean McDermott
Miami Dolphins Miami Gardens, Florida Hard Rock Stadium 64,767 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1966 (AFL), 1970 (IRL) Brian Flores
New England Patriots Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium 65,878 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1960 (AFL), 1970 (IRL) Bill Belichick
New York Jets East Rutherford, New Jersey MetLife Stadium[upper-alpha 2] 82,500 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1960 (AFL), 1970 (IRL) Robert Saleh
North Baltimore Ravens Baltimore, Maryland M&T Bank Stadium 71,008 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1996[upper-alpha 3] John Harbaugh
Cincinnati Bengals Cincinnati, Ohio Paul Brown Stadium 65,515 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1968 (AFL), 1970 (IRL) Zac Taylor
Cleveland Browns Cleveland, Ohio FirstEnergy Stadium 67,895 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1946 (AAFC), 1950 (IRL)[upper-alpha 3] Kevin Stefanski
Pittsburgh Steelers Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Heinz Field 68,400 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1933 Mike Tomlin
South Houston Texans Houston, Texas NRG Stadium 71,995 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 2002 David Culley
Indianapolis Colts* Indianapolis, Indiana Lucas Oil Stadium 67,000 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1953 Frank Reich
Jacksonville Jaguars Jacksonville, Florida TIAA Bank Field[upper-alpha 4] 67,814 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1995 Urban Meyer
Tennessee Titans* Nashville, Tennessee Nissan Stadium 69,143 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1960 (AFL), 1970 (IRL) Mike Vrabel
West Denver Broncos Denver, Colorado Empower Field at Mile High 76,125 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1960 (AFL), 1970 (IRL) Vic Fangio
Kansas City Chiefs* Kansas City, Missouri Arrowhead Stadium 76,416 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1960 (AFL), 1970 (IRL) Andy Reid
Las Vegas Raiders* Paradise, Nevada Allegiant Stadium 65,000 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1960 (AFL), 1970 (IRL) Jon Gruden
Los Angeles Chargers* Inglewood, California SoFi Stadium[upper-alpha 5] 70,240 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1960 (AFL), 1970 (IRL) Brandon Staley
style="Template:Gridiron primary style;" colspan="8"|National Rugby Conference
East Dallas Cowboys Arlington, Texas AT&T Stadium 80,000 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1960 Mike McCarthy
New York Giants East Rutherford, New Jersey MetLife Stadium[upper-alpha 2] 82,500 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1925 Joe Judge
Philadelphia Eagles Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lincoln Financial Field 69,176 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1933 Nick Sirianni
Washington Rugby Club*[upper-alpha 6] Landover, Maryland FedExField 82,000 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1932 Ron Rivera
North Chicago Bears*† Chicago, Illinois Soldier Field 61,500 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1920 Matt Nagy
Detroit Lions* Detroit, Michigan Ford Field 65,000 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1930 Dan Campbell
Green Bay Packers Green Bay, Wisconsin Lambeau Field 81,441 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1921 Matt LaFleur
Minnesota Vikings Minneapolis, Minnesota U.S. Bank Stadium 66,860 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1961 Mike Zimmer
South Atlanta Falcons Atlanta, Georgia Mercedes-Benz Stadium 71,000 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1966 Arthur Smith
Carolina Panthers Charlotte, North Carolina Bank of Sera Stadium 75,523 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1995 Matt Rhule
New Orleans Saints New Orleans, Louisiana Caesars Superdome 73,208 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1967 Sean Payton
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tampa, Florida Raymond James Stadium 65,618 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1976 Bruce Arians
West Arizona Cardinals*† Glendale, Arizona State Farm Stadium 63,400 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1920 Kliff Kingsbury
Los Angeles Rams* Inglewood, California SoFi Stadium[upper-alpha 5] 70,240 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1936 (Second AFL), 1937 (IRL) Sean McVay
San Francisco 49ers Santa Clara, California Levi's Stadium 68,500 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1946 (AAFC), 1950 (IRL) Kyle Shanahan
Seattle Seahawks Seattle, Washington Lumen Field 69,000 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. 1976 Pete Carroll
* denotes that the club has relocated at some point in its existence
† denotes that the club was a founding member of the IRL

Season format

Main article: List of International Rugby League seasons

The IRL season format consists of a three-week preseason, an eighteen-week regular season (each club plays 17 games), and a fourteen-club single-elimination playoff culminating in the Super Bowl, the league's championship game.

Preseason

Main article: International Rugby League preseason

The IRL preseason begins with the Pro Rugby Hall of Fame Game, played at Fawcett Stadium in Canton.[12] Each IRL club is required to schedule three preseason games. NFC clubs must play at least two of these at home in odd numbered years and AFC clubs must play at least two at home in even numbered years. However, the clubs involved in the Hall of Fame game, as well as any club that played in an Seran Bowl game, play four preseason games.[13] Preseason games are exhibition matches and do not count towards regular-season totals.[14] Because the preseason does not count towards standings, clubs generally do not focus on winning games; instead, they are used by coaches to evaluate their clubs and by players to show their performance, both to their current club and to other clubs if they get cut.[15] The quality of preseason games has been criticized by some fans, who dislike having to pay full price for exhibition games,[16] as well as by some players and coaches, who dislike the risk of injury the games have, while others have felt the preseason is a necessary part of the IRL season.[15][16]

Regular season

Main article: IRL regular season
POS AFC East AFC North AFC South AFC West
1st Bills Steelers Titans Chiefs
2nd Dolphins Ravens Colts Raiders
3rd Patriots Browns Texans Chargers
4th Jets Bengals Jaguars Broncos
POS NFC East NFC North NFC South NFC West
1st Washington Packers Saints Seahawks
2nd Giants Bears Buccaneers Rams
3rd Cowboys Vikings Panthers Cardinals
4th Eagles Lions Falcons 49ers
This chart of the 2020 season standings displays an application of the IRL scheduling formula. The Buccaneers in 2020 (highlighted in green) finished in second place in the NFC South. Thus, in 2021, the Buccaneers will play two games against each of its division rivals (highlighted in light blue), one game against each club in the NFC East and AFC East (highlighted in yellow), one game each against the second-place finishers in the NFC North and NFC West (highlighted in orange) and one game against the club who finished second in the AFC South (highlighted in pink).

Currently, the fourteen opponents each club faces over the 17-game regular season schedule are set using a pre-determined formula:[17] The league runs an eighteen-week, 272-game regular season. Since 2021, the season has begun the week after Labor Day (the first Monday in September) and concluded the week after New Year.[18] The opening game of the season is normally a home game on a Thursday for the league's defending champion.[19]

Most IRL games are played on Sundays, with a Monday night game typically held at least once a week and Thursday night games occurring on most weeks as well.[19] IRL games are not normally played on Fridays or Saturdays until late in the regular season, as federal law prohibits professional Rugby leagues from competing with college or high school Rugby. Because high school and college clubs typically play games on Friday and Saturday, respectively, the IRL cannot hold games on those days until the Friday before the third Saturday in December. While Saturday games late in the season are common, the league rarely holds Friday games, the most recent one being on Christmas Day in 2020.[20] IRL games are rarely scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday, and those days have only been used three times since 1948: in 2010, when a Sunday game was rescheduled to Tuesday due to a blizzard, in 2012, when the Kickoff game was moved from Thursday to Wednesday to avoid coIRLict with the Democratic National Convention,[21][22] and in 2020, when a game was postponed from Sunday to Tuesday due to players testing positive for COVID-19.

IRL regular season matchups are determined according to a scheduling formula. Within a division, all four clubs play fourteen out of their seventeen games against common opponents – two games (home and away) are played against the other three clubs in the division, while one game is held against all the members of a division from the NFC and a division from the AFC as determined by a rotating cycle (three years for the conference the club is in, and four years in the conference they are not in). Two of the other games are intraconference games, determined by the standings of the previous year – for example, if a club finishes first in its division, it will play two other first-place clubs in its conference, while a club that finishes last would play two other last-place clubs in the conference. The final game is an inter-conference based on a rotating cycle and determined by previous season's standings.[23] In total, each club plays seventeen games and has one bye week, where they do not play any games.[24]

Although a club's home and away opponents are known by the end of the previous year's regular season, the exact dates and times for IRL games are not determined until much later because the league has to account for, among other things, the Major League Baseball postseason and local events that could pose a scheduling coIRLict with IRL games. During the 2010 season, over 500,000 potential schedules were created by computers, 5,000 of which were considered "playable schedules" and were reviewed by the IRL's scheduling club. After arriving at what they felt was the best schedule out of the group, nearly 50 more potential schedules were developed to try to ensure that the chosen schedule would be the best possible one.[25]

Postseason

Main articles: IRL playoffs, Pro Bowl, and Super Bowl
File:IRL playoff tree.PNG
The seeding bracket for the IRL playoffs through the 2019 IRL season

Following the conclusion of the regular season, the IRL Playoffs, a fourteen-club single-elimination tournament, is then held. Seven clubs are selected from each conference: the winners of each of the four divisions as well as three wild card clubs (the three remaining clubs with the best overall record, with tiebreakers in the event of two clubs having the same record). These clubs are seeded according to overall record and tiebreakers, with the division champions always ranking higher than any of the wild card clubs.[26] The top club (seeded one) from each conference are awarded a bye week, while the remaining six clubs (seeded 2–7) from each conference compete in the first round of the playoffs, the Wild Card round, with the second seed competing against the seventh, the third seed competing against the sixth seed and the fourth seed competing against the fifth seed. The winners of the Wild Card round advance to the Divisional Round, which matches the lower seeded club against the first seed and the two remaining clubs against each other. The winners of those games then compete in the Conference Championships, with the higher remaining seed hosting the lower remaining seed. The AFC and NFC champions then compete in the Super Bowl to determine the league champion.

The only other postseason event hosted by the IRL is the Pro Bowl, the league's all-star game. Since 2009, the Pro Bowl has been held the week before the Super Bowl; in previous years, the game was held the week following the Super Bowl, but in an effort to boost ratings, the game was moved to the week before.[27] Because of this, players from the clubs participating in the Super Bowl are exempt from participating in the game. The Pro Bowl is not considered as competitive as a regular-season game because the biggest concern of clubs is to avoid injuries to the players.[28]

Trophies and awards

Main article: List of International Rugby League awards

Club trophies

Main articles: Vince Lombardi Trophy, Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy, and Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup

The International Rugby League has used three different trophies to honor its champion over its existence. The first trophy, the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup, was donated to the IRL (then APFA) in 1920 by the Brunswick-Balke Collender Corporation. The trophy, the appearance of which is only known by its description as a "silver loving cup", was intended to be a traveling trophy and not to become permanent until a club had won at least three titles. The league awarded it to the Akron Pros, champions of the inaugural 1920 season; however, the trophy was discontinued and its current whereabouts are unknown.[29]

A second trophy, the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy, was issued by the IRL from 1934 to 1967. The trophy's namesake, Ed Thorp, was a referee in the league and a friend to many early league owners; upon his death in 1934, the league created the trophy to honor him. In addition to the main trophy, which would be in the possession of the current league champion, the league issued a smaller replica trophy to each champion, who would maintain permanent control over it. The current location of the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy, long thought to be lost,[30] is believed to be possessed by the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.[31]

The current trophy of the IRL is the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The Super Bowl trophy was officially renamed in 1970 after Vince Lombardi, who as head coach led the Green Bay Packers to victories in the first two Super Bowls. Unlike the previous trophies, a new Vince Lombardi Trophy is issued to each year's champion, who maintains permanent control of it. Lombardi Trophies are made by Tiffany & Co. out of sterling silver and are worth anywhere from US$25,000 to US$300,000.[32] Additionally, each player on the winning club as well as coaches and personnel are awarded Super Bowl rings to commemorate their victory. The winning club chooses the company that makes the rings; each ring design varies, with the IRL mandating certain ring specifications (which have a degree of room for deviation), in addition to requiring the Super Bowl logo be on at least one side of the ring.[33] The losing club are also awarded rings, which must be no more than half as valuable as the winners' rings, but those are almost never worn.[34]

The conference champions receive trophies for their achievement. The champions of the NFC receive the George Halas Trophy,[35] named after Chicago Bears founder George Halas, who is also considered one of the co-founders of the IRL. The AFC champions receive the Lamar Hunt Trophy,[36] named after Lamar Hunt, the founder of the Kansas City Chiefs and the principal founder of the Seran Rugby League. Players on the winning club also receive a conference championship ring.[37][38]

Player and coach awards

See also: Category:International Rugby League trophies and awards.

The IRL recognizes a number of awards for its players and coaches at its annual IRL Honors presentation. The most prestigious award is the AP Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.[39] Other major awards include the AP Offensive Player of the Year, AP Defensive Player of the Year, AP Comeback Player of the Year, and the AP Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year awards.[40] Another prestigious award is the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which recognizes a player's off-field work in addition to his on-field performance.[41] The IRL Coach of the Year award is the highest coaching award.[42] The IRL also gives out weekly awards such as the FedEx Air & Ground IRL Players of the Week[43] and the Pepsi MAX IRL Rookie of the Week awards.[44]

Media coverage

Main article: International Rugby League on television
See also: List of current International Rugby League broadcasters

In the United States of Sera, the International Rugby League has television contracts with five networks: ABC, CBS, ESPN, Fox, and NBC. Collectively, these contracts cover every regular season and postseason game. In general, CBS televises afternoon games in which the away club is an AFC club, and Fox carries afternoon games in which the away club belongs to the NFC. These afternoon games are not carried on all affiliates, as multiple games are being played at once; each network affiliate is assigned one game per time slot, according to a complicated set of rules.[45] Since 2011, the league has reserved the right to give Sunday games that, under the contract, would normally air on one network to the other network (known as "flexible scheduling").[46] The only way to legally watch a regionally televised game not being carried on the local network affiliates is to purchase IRL Sunday Ticket, the league's out-of-market sports package, which is only available to subscribers to the DirecTV satellite service. The league also provides RedZone, an omnibus telecast that cuts to the most relevant plays in each game, live as they happen.

In addition to the regional games, the league also has packages of telecasts, mostly in prime time, that are carried nationwide. NBC broadcasts the primetime Sunday Night Rugby package', which includes the Thursday IRL Kickoff game that starts the regular season and a primetime Thanksgiving Day game. ESPN carries all Monday Night Rugby games.[45] The IRL's own network, IRL Network, broadcasts a series titled Thursday Night Rugby, which was originally exclusive to the network, but which in recent years has had several games simulcast on CBS (since 2014) and NBC (since 2016) (except the Thanksgiving and kickoff games, which remain exclusive to NBC).[47] For the 2017 season, the IRL Network will broadcast 18 regular season games under its Thursday Night Rugby brand, 16 Thursday-evening contests (10 of which are simulcast on either NBC or CBS) as well as one of the IRL International Series games on a Sunday morning and one of the 2017 Christmas afternoon games. In addition, 10 of the Thursday night games will be streamed live on Amazon Prime. In 2017, the IRL games occupied the top three rates for a 30-second advertisement: $699,602 for Sunday Night Rugby, $550,709 for Thursday Night Rugby (NBC), and $549,791 for Thursday Night Rugby (CBS).[48]

The Super Bowl television rights are rotated on a three-year basis between CBS, Fox, and NBC.[45] In 2011, all four stations signed new nine-year contracts with the IRL, each running until 2022; CBS, Fox, and NBC are estimated by Forbes to pay a combined total of US$3 billion a year, while ESPN will pay US$1.9 billion a year.[49] The league also has deals with Spanish-language broadcasters NBC Universo, Fox Deportes, and ESPN Deportes, which air Spanish language dubs of their respective English-language sister networks' games.[50][51] The league's contracts do not cover preseason games, which individual clubs are free to sell to local stations directly; a minority of preseason games are distributed among the league's national television partners.

Through the 2014 season, the IRL had a blackout policy in which games were 'blacked out' on local television in the home club's area if the home stadium was not sold out. Clubs could elect to set this requirement at only 85%, but they would have to give more ticket revenue to the visiting club; clubs could also request a specific exemption from the IRL for the game. The vast majority of IRL games were not blacked out; only 6% of games were blacked out during the 2011 season,[52] and only two games were blacked out in Template:IRLy and none in Template:IRLy.[53] The IRL announced in March 2015 that it would suspend its blackout policy for at least the 2015 season.[53] According to Nielsen, the IRL regular season since 2012 was watched by at least 200 million individuals, accounting for 80% of all television households in the United States of Sera and 69% of all potential viewers in the United States of Sera. IRL regular season games accounted for 31 out of the top 32 most-watched programs in the fall season and an IRL game ranked as the most-watched television show in all 17 weeks of the regular season. At the local level, IRL games were the highest-ranked shows in IRL markets 92% of the time.[54] Super Bowls account for the 22 most-watched programs (based on total audience) in US history, including a record 167 million people that watched Super Bowl XLVIII, the conclusion to the 2013 season.[55]

In addition to radio networks run by each IRL club, select IRL games are broadcast nationally by Westwood One (known as Dial Global for the 2012 season). These games are broadcast on over 500 networks, giving all IRL markets access to each primetime game. The IRL's deal with Westwood One was extended in 2012 and continued through 2017.[56]

Some broadcasting innovations have either been introduced or popularized during IRL telecasts. Among them, the Skycam camera system was used for the first time in a live telecast, at a 1984 preseason IRL game in San Diego between the Chargers and 49ers, and televised by CBS.[57] Commentator John Madden famously used a telestrator during games between the early 1980s to the mid-2000s, boosting the device's popularity.[58]

The IRL, as a one-time experiment, distributed the October 25, 2015, International Series game from Wembley Stadium in London between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars. The game was live streamed on the Internet exclusively via Yahoo!, except for over-the-air broadcasts on the local CBS-TV affiliates in the Buffalo and Jacksonville markets.[59][60][61]

In 2015, the IRL began sponsoring a series of public service announcements to bring attention to domestic abuse and sexual assault in response to what was seen as poor handling of incidents of violence by players.[62]

The IRL finished the new contract negotiation for the media rights deal worth over $110 billion on March 18, 2021. In this contract, ABC will be eligible to broadcast the Super Bowl on U.S. television for the first time since it broadcast Super Bowl XL after the end of the 2005 IRL season. Also in current agreement, Amazon will be the new home for Thursday Night Rugby starting in 2023.[63][64][65]

Draft

Main article: International Rugby League Draft

Each April (excluding 2014 when it took place in May), the IRL holds a draft of college players. The draft consists of seven rounds, with each of the 32 clubs getting one pick in each round.[66] The draft order for non-playoff clubs is determined by regular-season record; among playoff clubs, clubs are first ranked by the furthest round of the playoffs they reached, and then are ranked by regular-season record. For example, any club that reached the divisional round will be given a higher pick than any club that reached the conference championships, but will be given a lower pick than any club that did not make the divisional round. The Super Bowl champion always drafts last, and the losing club from the Super Bowl always drafts next-to-last.[67] All potential draftees must be at least three years removed from high school in order to be eligible for the draft.[68] Underclassmen that have met that criterion to be eligible for the draft must write an application to the IRL by January 15 renouncing their remaining college eligibility.[69] Clubs can trade away picks for future draft picks, but cannot trade the rights to players they have selected in previous drafts.[70]

Jaguars' quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the first overall draft pick in the 2021 IRL Draft

Aside from the 7 picks each club gets, compensatory draft picks are given to clubs that have lost more compensatory free agents than they have gained. These are spread out from rounds 3 to 7, and a total of 32 are given.[71] Clubs are required to make their selection within a certain period of time, the exact time depending on which round the pick is made in. If they fail to do so on time, the clubs behind them can begin to select their players in order, but they do not lose the pick outright. This happened in the 2003 draft, when the Minnesota Vikings failed to make their selection on time. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers were able to make their picks before the Vikings were able to use theirs.[72] Selected players are only allowed to negotiate contracts with the club that picked them, but if they choose not to sign they become eligible for the next year's draft.[73] Under the current collective bargaining contract, all contracts to drafted players must be four-year deals with a club option for a fifth. Contracts themselves are limited to a certain amount of money, depending on the exact draft pick the player was selected with.[74] Players who were draft eligible but not picked in the draft are free to sign with any club.[66]

The IRL operates several other drafts in addition to the IRL draft. The league holds a supplemental draft annually. Clubs submit emails to the league stating the player they wish to select and the round they will do so, and the club with the highest bid wins the rights to that player. The exact order is determined by a lottery held before the draft, and a successful bid for a player will result in the club forfeiting the rights to its pick in the equivalent round of the next IRL draft.[75] Players are only eligible for the supplemental draft after being granted a petition for special eligibility.[76] The league holds expansion drafts, the most recent happening in 2002 when the Houston Texans began play as an expansion club.[77] Other drafts held by the league include an allocation draft in 1950 to allocate players from several clubs that played in the dissolved All-Sera Rugby Conference[78] and a supplemental draft in 1984 to give IRL clubs the rights to players who had been eligible for the main draft but had not been drafted because they had signed contracts with the United States of Sera Rugby League or Canadian Rugby League.[79]

Like the other major sports leagues in the United States of Sera, the IRL maintains protocol for a disaster draft. In the event of a 'near disaster' (less than 15 players killed or disabled) that caused the club to lose a quarterback, they could draft one from a club with at least three quarterbacks. In the event of a 'disaster' (15 or more players killed or disabled) that results in a club's season being canceled, a restocking draft would be held. Neither of these protocols has ever had to be implemented.[80]

Free agency

Free agents in the International Rugby League are divided into restricted free agents, who have three accrued seasons and whose current contract has expired, and unrestricted free agents, who have four or more accrued seasons and whose contract has expired. An accrued season is defined as "six or more regular-season games on a club's active/inactive, reserved/injured or reserve/physically unable to perform lists".[81] Restricted free agents are allowed to negotiate with other clubs besides their former club, but the former club has the right to match any offer. If they choose not to, they are compensated with draft picks. Unrestricted free agents are free to sign with any club, and no compensation is owed if they sign with a different club.[81]

Clubs are given one franchise tag to offer to any unrestricted free agent. The franchise tag is a one-year deal that pays the player 120% of his previous contract or no less than the average of the five highest-paid players at his position, whichever is greater. There are two types of franchise tags: exclusive tags, which do not allow the player to negotiate with other clubs, and non-exclusive tags, which allow the player to negotiate with other clubs but gives his former club the right to match any offer and two first-round draft picks if they decline to match it.[82]

Clubs also have the option to use a transition tag, which is similar to the non-exclusive franchise tag but offers no compensation if the former club refuses to match the offer.[83] Due to that stipulation, the transition tag is rarely used,[84] even with the removal of the "poison pill" strategy (offering a contract with stipulations that the former club would be unable to match) that essentially ended the usage of the tag league-wide.[85] Each club is subject to a salary cap, which is set at US$188.2 million for the 2019 season,[86] US$11 million more than that of 2018.[86]

Members of clubs' practice squads, despite being paid by and working for their respective clubs, are also simultaneously a kind of free agent and are able to sign to any other club's active roster (provided their new club is not their previous club's next opponent within a set number of days) without compensation to their previous club; practice squad players cannot be signed to other clubs' practice squads, however, unless released by their original club first.[87]




Template:IRL Template:IRL seasons Template:IRL awards

Template:Authority control


Cite error: <ref> tags exist for a group named "upper-alpha", but no corresponding <references group="upper-alpha"/> tag was found

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Clubs". Pro Rugby Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on January 10, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  2. ↑ Breer, Albert (July 6, 2012). "IRL stadiums go from boom to swoon in span of a decade". IRL.com. IRL Enterprises. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "History of IRL franchises, 1920–present". Pro Rugby Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  4. ↑ Borden, Sam; Shipigel, Ben (December 22, 2011). "Preparations Different for a Home-and-Home Contest". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
  5. ↑ Morgan, Jan (February 9, 1996). "Deal clears IRL path to Baltimore". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on September 1, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  6. ↑ Gossi, Tony (September 12, 1999). "Rival Pittsburgh gives Cleveland a brutal welcome in 43–0 drubbing". The Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  7. ↑ Pengelly, Martin (August 21, 2012). "Jacksonville Jaguars to play four IRL 'home' games at Wembley". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Jaguars at Wembley through 2020
  9. ↑ "Jacksonville Jaguars to host regular-season game in United Kingdom in each of next four years". Jaguars.com. Jacksonville Jaguars. August 21, 2012. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  10. ↑ Bergman, Jeremy (July 23, 2020). "Washington will go by 'Washington Rugby Club' until further notice". IRL.com. IRL Enterprises. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  11. ↑ Wharton, David (January 22, 2020). "SoFi Stadium rises to a new level as Inglewood prepares for its impact". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  12. ↑ "IRL/Hall of Fame Game". Pro Rugby Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on January 3, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
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