USA Rugby (formally the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain "high levels of quality in all aspects of rugby."USA Rugby, 2010 Audited Financial Statements, https://assets.usa.rugby/docs/about/financials/2010_Audited_Financial_Statements.pdf USA Rugby is responsible for the promotion and development of the sport in the U.S., and promotion of U.S. international participation.USA Rugby Football Union, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2010
USA Rugby was founded in 1975 as the United States of America Rugby Football Union, and it organized the first U.S. national team match in 1976. Today, USA Rugby has over 130,000 members, the largest segment being college rugby with over 32,000 members. USA Rugby oversees 1,200 high school teams, 900 college teams, 700 senior club teams, and 400 youth teams.USA Rugby by the numbers , USARugby.org. Retrieved April 24, 2014. It administers all United States national teams: senior men's and women's teams, sevens teams for both men and women, and under-20 national teams for both sexes. The organization also sponsors college rugby for both sexes, although since the 2010–11 academic year the NCAA has designated women's rugby an emerging varsity sport.
USA Rugby is governed by an 11-member Board of Directors and four National Councils across Youth & High School, college, Senior Club and International Athlete, and its CEO is Bill Goren. It is a member of World Rugby through membership with Rugby Americas North, and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The headquarters for USA Rugby is located in Glendale, Colorado.
History
The U.S. men's national team, the Eagles, won the gold medal in Olympic rugby in 1920 and 1924. After that time, rugby in the U.S. stagnated while continuing to grow in other parts of the world.
Beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1970s, the sport of rugby union enjoyed a renaissance in the US. This created the need for a national governing body to represent the United States. On June 7, 1975, four territorial organizations (Pacific Coast, West, Midwest, and East) gathered in Chicago, Illinois, and formed the United States of America Rugby Football Union (now known as USA Rugby). USA Rugby then fielded its first national team on January 31, 1976, in a match against Australia in Anaheim, California, which Australia won, 24–12.
In 1993, the Southern California RFU, a local area union of the Pacific Coast RFU, applied to become a separate territory. This was an impetus for others around the country to do the same, changing the make-up of USA Rugby, which now has seven territories (Pacific, Southern California, West, Midwest, South, Northeastern, and Mid-Atlantic).
USA Rugby lobbied for several years for participation in the IRB Sevens World Series. It was finally awarded the annual USA Sevens tournament, beginning in 2004 with Los Angeles as the venue for the initial USA Sevens tournaments. In summer 2006, the tournament was moved to Petco Park in San Diego. Since 2010, the tournament has been held every year at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas Valley and has been broadcast live on NBC.
USA Rugby is a Founding Sports Partner of the Sports Museum of America, joining more than 50 other single-sport Halls of Fame, national governing bodies, museums, and other organizations across North America, to celebrate the history, grandeur, and significance of sports in American culture. Opened in New York City on May 7, 2008, the Sports Museum of America showcases USA Rugby in its Hall of Halls Gallery, in return for their support of the creation of the nation's first all-sports museum experience.
In 2014, USA Rugby created Rugby International Marketing, a for-profit company that is responsible for promoting the sport of rugby.USA Rugby, 2014 Financial Statements . Accessed October 18, 2015.
Recent achievements In the 2009–10 Sevens World Series, the men's sevens team finished the season ranked 10th in the world, their highest ranking to date at that time. In 2010, USA Rugby became an Olympic Sport member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).Universal Sports, USA Rugby named Olympic Sport member of USOC, September 27, 2010, http://www.universalsports.com/news-blogs/article/newsid=493882.html In 2011, the International Rugby Board, now known as World Rugby, gave its Development Award to USA Rugby for its Rookie Rugby program that introduced over 100,000 new children to youth rugby.IRB Awards, Thierry Dusautoir IRB Player of the Year, October 24, 2011, In 2014: the U.S. Women's Sevens finished 4th in the World Rugby Women's Sevens World Series, their highest finish to date. the U.S. vs New Zealand match sold out Soldier Field in Chicago, drawing over 60,000 fans and setting a U.S. attendance record. In 2015: USA Rugby won the bid to host the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in the San Francisco Bay Area. the U.S. Men's Sevens team finished sixth in the 2014–15 Sevens World Series, including first at the 2015 London Sevens. The team also defeated Canada 21–5 to win the 2015 NACRA Sevens and qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics. In 2017: the Women's U.S. National Team finished 4th at the Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland. Their second highest finish since winning the 1991 tournament. the U.S. Men's Sevens team finished fifth in the 2016-17 World Rugby Sevens Series, their highest-ever finish at the time. In 2018: the U.S. Men's National Team won the America's Rugby Championship (ARC) for the second consecutive year. the United States hosted its first ever Rugby World Cup event with the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 in San Francisco at AT&T Park. The event welcomed more than 100,000 in attendance, setting the mark for highest attended Rugby World Cup Sevens to date.
In 2019: U.S. Men's Sevens team finished second in the 2018–19 World Rugby Sevens Series, their highest-ever finish. The team would make five Cup finals including a win in the 2019 USA Sevens against Samoa. In October 2021, the U.S. vs New Zealand (All Blacks) match at FedEx Field in Washington DC. The final score was 104–14 to the All Blacks. the U.S. Women's Sevens team finished third at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Governance and leadership USA Rugby is governed by its board of directors and its congress. The board is composed of 12 members: 5 independent directors, 4 international athletes, and 3 representatives from USA Rugby's National Councils across Youth, college, and Adult Club. Board members as of 2026 were:
Tom Cusack (Chairperson) Steve Argeris (Vice Chair) Koma Gandy-Fischbein (Affiliate Director) Tom Kelley (Independent Director) Julie Uhrman (Independent Director) Victoria Folayan (International Athlete) Jamie Burke (International Athlete) Denis Shanagher (International Athlete) Brett Thompson (International Athlete) Paul Keeler (Collegiate Representative) Rick Humm (Senior Club Representative) Bill Stevens (Youth & High School)
Scott Lawrence began his tenure as head coach of the Men's Eagles in January 2024. Zack Test is the head coach of the Men's Eagle Sevens. Jack Hanratty was appointed as the Women's Eagles head coach in December 2025. Emilie Bydwell is the head coach of the Women's Eagles Sevens, who ranked 2nd in the world through the 2018-19 Women's World Rugby Sevens Series.
International representation USA Rugby became a member of the International Rugby Football Board in 1987. The worldwide body would become the International Rugby Board (IRB) in 1998 and World Rugby in 2014. USA Rugby does not hold a vote on WR's 28-member Executive Council—the majority of votes are held by the 8 founding nations—although NACRA members collectively hold one vote on the Executive Council.International Rugby Board In December 2011, for the first time, USA Rugby placed a representative on the 10-man executive committee. Bob Latham, in his role as chair of Rugby Americas North (RAN; known as NACRA before 2016), represents RAN on the executive committee.Gainline.us, IRB vote propels american to top committee, December 14, 2011, http://www.gainline.us/gainline/2011/12/irb-vote-propels-american-to-top-committee.html
USA Rugby also has relationships with international multi-sport organizations. USA Rugby is a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee and interacts with the International Olympic Committee. USA Rugby also interacts with the Pan American Sport Organization, and rugby has been a sport at the Pan Am Games since 2011.
Financials USA Rugby generally earns between $8 million to $16 million in annual revenues, with the majority of the revenue coming from: (1) membership dues, (2) event revenue, (3) grants, and (4) sponsorship. Their principal expenses are: (1) High Performance, (2) Men's National Team, and (3) Marketing and Fundraising. In 2010, USA Rugby paid over $200,000 each to its CEO Nigel Melville and its then head coach Eddie O'Sullivan. As of 2012, Nigel Melville's compensation was $250,000. USA Rugby experienced a financial crunch in 2016–17, due to the bankruptcy of kit sponsor BLK and currency exchange rates that affect grants received from World Rugby."CASH SHORTFALL COULD CAUSE EAGLES TO FALL BEHIND" , Rugby Today, Pat Clifton, January 20, 2017.
USA Rugby lost more than $4.4 million in 2017, and $4.2 million in 2018. Most of the losses were attributed to USA Rugby Partners, formerly known as Rugby International Marketing (RIM), which was the majority owner of The Rugby Channel which was sold in 2018 to FloSports.[https://assets.usa.rugby/docs/about/financials/2018-audit-final-report.pdf USA Rugby 2018 financial statements In early 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, USA Rugby filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to develop a financial restructuring plan."USA Rugby files for bankruptcy in the wake of coronavirus outbreak" , CBS Sports, Chris Bengel, March 31, 2020. USA finished the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process as the Delaware Bankruptcy Court approved USA Rugby's debtor plan and the sport's National Governing Body. On September 1, 2020, USA Rugby was reorganized and started paying back creditors.
USA Rugby annual revenues are below, along with the components that generated the majority of revenue:
Year Total Revenue Member dues Grants Sponsors Event revenue Liabilities Change in net assets International comparisons (annual reported revenue) 2024 $16.6m $3.1m $7.3m $1.6m $0.1m $15.8m $0.8m 2023 $16.0m $2.6m $7.4m $1.5m $0.2m $14.5m $1.5m 2022 $12.4m $2.2m $5.6m $0.6m $0.4m $13.0m ($0.7m) 2021 $10.3m $1.9m $5.0m $0.5m $1.1m $10.1m $0.2m 2020 $13.1m $3.0m $1.8m $1.3m $0.1m $6.6m $6.5m 2019 $13.4m $5.2m $5.1m $1.6m $1.0m $15.3m ($1.9m)England - £213.2m 2018 $27.4m $5.2m $2.8m $1.9m $2.8m $25.6m ($2.0m) Scotland - £57.2m 2017 $14.0m $5.0m $2.0m $1.9m $2.1m 2016 $14.7m $4.8m $2.0m $2.3m $2.7m Scotland - £47.3m, Ireland - €76m/£67m, Wales - £73.3m 2015 $14.6m $4.7m $2.4m $2.5m $2.1m Wales - £64m; Scotland - £44m. 2014 $16.4m $4.5m $2.0m $2.2m $5.4m Wales - £58m, Scotland - £44m. 2013 $12.2m $4.3m $1.7m $1.9m $1.8m Wales - £61m, New Zealand - £54m, Scotland - £39m. 2012 $10.2m $4.3m $1.7m $1.6m $1.1m Scotland - £38m.Scottish Rugby Annual Report 2011/12 . 2011 $7.5m $3.2m $1.7m $1.5m $0.2m Scotland - £35m; Canada - C$9m. 2010 $6.4m $2.8m $1.4m $1.0m $0.2m Scotland - £34m 2009 $8.1m $2.7m $1.3m $2.4m $0.8m 2008 $8.0m $2.0m $1.4m $2.7m $0.9m 2007 $6.7m $2.2m $1.7m $0.9m $1.0m 2006 $5.3m $2.0m $1.3m $0.2m $0.7m Notes: Grants come mainly from World Rugby and from the United States Olympic Committee.
Board performance