NOLA Gold announces move to Shrine on Airline

NOLA Gold Rugby announces The Shrine on Airline as its new home stadium for the upcoming 2020 season. This is a huge upward move for the NOLA Gold, as this stadium, which we’ve nicknamed The Gold Mine at the Shrine on Airline, holds a much larger capacity allowing for a great fan experience, increased ticket options, sponsorship opportunities and suite sales.

“We are a professional Major League team which needed a great stadium, so this is an exciting opportunity for not only our sports fans and players but our community. We appreciate the Governor and the LSED Board for working with us to bring one of the world’s most exciting sports to an iconic venue,” said NOLA Gold Rugby owner Tim Falcon.

“The LSED (Louisiana Stadium Exposition District) is excited to have the opportunity to bring rugby to our beautiful stadium on Airline Drive. It has always been the role of the LSED to maximize the use of our state-owned facilities, and we are proud to bring this exciting sport to Jefferson Parish,” said LSED Chairman Kyle France.

NOLA Gold Rugby is a founding member of Major League Rugby (MLR), the premier league in North America. The MLR, which began league play in 2018, enters into its third season this February. The 2020 season will consist of 12 teams in major markets; 11 from the United States and one from Canada. The MLR season runs from February through May, with the playoffs beginning in June.

“Mate, the sport of rugby checks all the boxes to give that adrenaline rush that sports fans love; power, pace, hand-eye, physical collisions, evasive skills and really fast-moving action,” said Australia native and NOLA Gold Rugby Head Coach Nate Osborne.

Last year, the NOLA Gold was the top scoring team in the MLR, and plan to be even better in 2020. Our mission is to bring an exciting, high scoring brand of rugby to the New Orleans metro area. And that all starts on February 8 when the Gold hosts new MLR franchise, Old Glory DC (Washington, D.C.) at the Gold Mine at the Shrine on Airline.

“After a successful 2019 season, we’re so pumped to get the ball rolling again this year. It’s exciting to bring the second largest sport in the world, and fastest growing sport in the United States, to such a great facility. Rugby mirrors the type of sports passion New Orleanians love; contact, toughness, resilience and the strong will to win,” said Gold General Manager Ryan Fitzgerald.

NOLA Gold Rugby is one of six teams in the MLR’s newly formed Eastern Conference, along with New York, Toronto, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Boston. The Gold will play each conference opponent twice this season, as well one game each against the six teams in the Western Conference, for a total of 16 regular season games, 8 at home & eight on the road. The Western Conference consists of Seattle, San Diego, Houston, Colorado (Denver area), Utah (Salt Lake City) and Austin.

Season tickets are now available by calling 504-507-8429 (504-50RUGBY) or you can buy them online now.