Utah Warriors Respond to League Updates
December 6, 2023 - Major League Rugby (MLR)
Utah Warriors News Release
HERRIMAN, Utah - While Toronto and New York's withdrawals from the league are unfortunate, the Warriors are confident in the trajectory of the league and the success of the season ahead of us. Warriors CEO and co-founder Kimball Kjar has made the following statement following the recent updates from the MLR.
Warriors Nation,
My professional background is and has always been in startup companies. While they are exciting, they are also hard.
With Major League Rugby's recent news regarding New York dissolving, and in context of Toronto's unfortunate and saddening situation with Bill Webb's passing, I can't underscore enough that this is one of those "hard" moments that all startups face.
Despite the two teams' reasons for withdrawal from the MLR being wholly separate and unique, we acknowledge that this puts a lot of lives in some very rough spots and we hope to support any and all players and staff from Toronto and New York where and however we can. We also know these teams built and were a part of two amazing rugby communities and we feel for you at this time.
All professional sports leagues face these "early days" startup challenges. The MLS, the NBA and even the juggernaut of the NFL saw growth, contraction, dissolution of teams and everything in between during their respective formative years. To think that the MLR would be any different would be foolish.
The Utah Warriors, along with the other ten amazing ownership groups and teams in the MLR, are committed to growing this amazing professional sports league in the world's most exciting and competitive sports and entertainment market of North America.
Although today is a hard day for everyone within the New York organization as well as in Toronto, we owe it to those players and the many who have carried the standards for both these teams for these many years to remain focused on the MLR's path ahead.
The MLR has seen so much growth and success since our inception in 2018 and we, as one of the league's founding members, look forward to continuing to build on this growth and success for many years to come.
Go Warriors! Go MLR!
Kimball Kjar - Co-Founder & CEO
• Discuss this story on the Major League Rugby message board...
Major League Rugby Stories from December 6, 2023
- Utah Warriors Respond to League Updates - Utah Warriors
- New York Ironworkers Withdraw from Major League Rugby - MLR
- Former NFL Player Agrees to Terms with Chicago Hounds - Chicago Hounds
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
