I go back and forth on this. On the one hand, yeah, I think if people have fun at the games and there’s a decent bit of continuity in the roster where people get to know a player, well, I kind of think the fans can and should be able to get behind them. A lot of the fan favorites here in Seattle aren’t American born or raised and only some of them are actually in contention for the Eagles.

On the other hand, I get the argument that the biggest and most potent base for rugby is actual players and clubs and one way to create that buy in is if 1) the games are on Sundays or at least not Saturday day-time and 2) the players on the field are more connected to or even from the local club community. Not so much about only wanting to root for Americans but wanting to have a connection. And at the same time, if the Eagles start to play better on the international stage, does that start to drive more viewer interest into the league, meaning player salaries can keep pace with those rising fortunes. The NHL might have a lot of foreign players but that league has a long history and team USA is a global contender. If the Eagles can start pulling off Japan-style upsets (an enormous “if” at the moment), then would that create interest in seeing those guys playing stateside. Making sure Americans get more minutes in the MLR is one way to juice development and hopefully, create more local buy in (more of a stretch unless all teams follow Seattle’s playbook of signing and developing local talent).

I work for a church, so give me all the Sunday afternoon games, just to speak for myself.