Former Harlequins chief Mark Evans advising Boston rugby league club seeking to join English game

  • Boston team is set to submit a bid to join the Rugby Football League
  • Consortium has held talks about entering a team into the British leagues
  • Proposal from New York side expected to get green light in next few weeks

A team from Boston, Massachusetts is set to submit a bid to join the Rugby Football League with the aim of reaching Super League.

Sportsmail understands a consortium advised by Mark Evans, who was formerly CEO at Australian side Melbourne Storm and rugby union club Harlequins during the ill-fated 'Bloodgate' scandal, has held discussions with the RFL about entering a team into the British leagues.

Evans, along with Australian sporting consultant Spencer Kassmiri, are looking at suitable venues within Boston on behalf of the investment group, with the party hopeful of signing an agreement to play out of one of the city's many university stadiums.

Mark Evans is looking at suitable venues within Boston on behalf of the investment group

Mark Evans is looking at suitable venues within Boston on behalf of the investment group

Sportsmail revealed last August how investors had submitted plans to introduce a side from New York by 2020, with that proposal expected to get the green light in the coming weeks.


New York, who officially announced their intention to join the RFL in October last year, declared they wanted to sign Fiji international and one-time San Francisco 49ers running back Jarryd Hayne and would invest £10million into the club's infrastructure over the next three years.

Outgoing RFL CEO Nigel Wood travelled to the US last month to meet both delegations, and has since reported back to the RFL board with his findings.

The move to introduce teams from North America, comes after the Toronto Wolfpack - backed by mining tycoon David Argyle - were admitted to the UK competition last year. The Canadian side were made to start in League One - the third tier of professional rugby league - before gaining promotion to the Championship.

As it stands, none of the proposed teams would receive central funding from the RFL, but would have to cover the costs of travel as Toronto have done for British teams flying to Canada.

The reason rugby league's leaders are so eager to introduce teams from overseas is to soften the impact of the current broadcast deal with Sky Sports expiring in 2021.

With Sky having paid £5bn for Premier League television rights, it is understood that they will look to reduce spending on a number of sports, including rugby league.

 

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