Major League Rugby has confirmed the air date for the 2024 College Draft on Wednesday, August 28. It is the fifth edition of the off-season event, which gives teams the opportunity to select from a pool of declared college talent from the United States or Canada. Seven selected players have since received full trial honors.
The order of the draft was determined by finishing position, taking playoff success into account. Anthem will go first after finishing last in the standings, while champions New England will go last in each round. As in previous years, the draft will have three rounds, for a total of 36 selections.
Nine picks were affected by the trades. In the last confirmed decision, LA’s first slot, the 2nd pick in the draft, was sent to Anthem along with salary cap money in exchange for an additional international slot in the 2025 season. Anthem also gave up an international slot to Utah in exchange for salary cap money, but that had no impact on the draft.
Anthem currently has the most selections, with five including the first two in the draft. New England, DC and Seattle each have four picks, with three going to Utah, San Diego, LA and Chicago. Currently, two picks each belong to Miami, NOLA and Houston, while Dallas has just one overall selection with pick No. 9.
The August 28th Draft Show will stream on RugbyPass at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (4:00 p.m. Pacific Time). A documentary about the MLR Rising Prospects game will air at the same time on Wednesday, August 21st.
