Noon Time Start Red Bull Arena Rugby Match Sat. June 25, 2022

It is not the first time a Rugby game will play at the Red Bulls Arena in Harrison, New Jersey but the game’s Saturday noon start time is not something local residents are going to be enthusiastic about.  Residents in the southern part of town, SOHA, where the Red Bulls Arena is located are used to planning for game days but start times are usually 2 p.m. and 7 p.m or 8 p.m. which allows for locals to get out and about before fans arrive for a game and cause traffic mayhem. 

Saturday noon time means fans will be arriving around 9 to 10 a.m. There went out the window the idea of taking the car to pick up your Saturday morning bagel sandwiches or get some Grocery shopping done early.  Locals will have to walk it to the Bagel shop for sure and do Grocery shopping some other time.

Putting the traffic aside, let’s talk about the game.  Saturday, June 25, 2022’s game is the Major League Rugby Championship Final with Rugby New York against the Seattle Seawolves.  The Seattle Seawolves have two championships under their belts going into the match.  Rugby New York won the Eastern Conference Final last Sunday to get into Red Bulls Arena but they have no Championship under their belt.

It is the first time, the Major League Rugby Championship Final is being played on the East Coast.  In past years, the Championship game was played on the West Coast. Which coast the Championship game is played is based on which conference of the league gets more total points during the regular season. Rugby New York helped the Eastern Conference win that contest.

Rugby New York’s regular-season home stadium is the JFK Stadium in Hoboken which has a total capacity of 2000 fans.  Quite a difference going from a 2000-seat stadium to a 25,000-seat stadium at the Red Bulls Arena. It is not clear how many fans will be coming into Harrison for the game. It is a championship game but not an international game so the stadium is not expected to completely fill up. To purchase tickets visit Ticketmaster. Click on the highlighted Ticketmaster for a direct link to Championship game Ticketmaster ticket sales page.

Residents may remember that it may be the first Major League Rugby Championship Final being held at the Red Bulls Stadium but there have been other Rugby matches played at the Red Bulls Arena. In March of 2016, a little over 15,000 fans watched London Irish be defeated by Saracens in the first regular-season English Premiership match played in the United States.  In July 2017, over 22,000 fans attended the Ireland v. USA Rugby game.

Former Prime Minister of United Kingdom Winston Churchill once said that "Rugby Is A Hooligans Game, Played by Gentleman".  Watch this video so you can learn more about Rugby and its origins and the Rules of the Game.

The Red Bulls Arena is the home stadium of its namesake the New York Red Bulls of the Major League Soccer and the NJ/NY Gotham FC Soccer club of the National Women’s Soccer League.  It recently hosted an international game between Ecuador and Nigeria which sold out the Arena and caused a little bit of havoc with the population of Harrison almost doubling during the game.

What are your thoughts on Rugby?  What’s your opinion on the Saturday Noontime start? Let Us Know Your Thoughts on our Community Discussion Board.  If you have not signed up yet to participate you can Sign Up now.

Photo credit: New York Rugby