Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) — the first-ever semi-pro US women’s rugby league — dropped its inaugural team branding yesterday ahead of its March 2025 kick-off.
- The Bay Breakers, Boston Banshees, Chicago Tempest, Denver Onyx, New York Exiles, and Twin Cities Gemini headline the six-team, 180-player league.
- “Rugby, its athletes, and fans are not one thing — each is multifaceted,” said WER co-founder and VP Katherine Aversano. “Our six team identities resonate with that modern complexity but are visually rooted in the bold American sports landscape.”
Big picture: With the goal of full professionalization, WER aims to both capitalize on the hype generated by Team USA’s Olympic bronze-medal run and to grow the sport domestically prior to the US-hosted 2033 Rugby World Cup.
- “For 15 years, women’s rugby players in the Women’s Premier League have played in an amateur, pay-to-play, cross-country league and the consensus is this model is no longer sustainable,” WER president Dr. Jessica Hammond-Graf said. “The mission of the WER is to be the defining standard of rugby in the United States.”