Starting in April 2016, six teams will compete in the inaugural season of the Professional Rugby Organization (PRO Rugby) with a goal to add multiple Canadian teams in 2017.

As the fastest growing team sport in North America, franchises have already been announced for Sacramento, San Francisco, Denver, and Philadelphia, where their teams will play in stadiums such as Talen Energy Stadium, home of the Philadelphia Union (MLS) with 18,500 seats, or Bonney Field, home of Sacramento Republic (USL) with 11,000 seats.

“You have to build from the ground up,” said Nigel Melville, USA Rugby CEO. “There’s a world to get this started, everyone’s keen to get onboard and help and start building the competition in the sport, and I think we’ll have great success.”

In addition to launching the new PRO Rugby League, USA Rugby was also selected to host the 2018 Rugby World Cup that will take place at AT&T Park in San Francisco and Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California. There will also be an international women’s sevens series at Kennesaw State University in April 2016.

“Hosting the World Cup will bring the sport to the doorstep of the American sports fan and will continue to grow the game,” Melville said.

Major League Soccer launched in 1996 after the U.S. hosted the 1994 World Cup, and the league just celebrated its 20th anniversary by averaging over 21,000 fans per game. Where will PRO Rugby be in 20 years?

“With the completion of the record-breaking 2015 Rugby World Cup in England, and the reintroduction of the sport into the 2016 Rio Olympics, now is the time to launch,” said Doug Schoninger, PRO Rugby CEO.

(Image: Andrew A/Creative Commons)

The U.S. Congress approved a tax law change that would incentivise investment in live theater, much the same way film and TV industries benefit from tax tax benefits.

“The tax law change, part of a bill that President Obama is expected to sign, would provide an incentive for investors in live theatrical productions by accelerating deductions and by ending the practice of requiring them to pay income tax on what producers call ‘phantom profits,’ which is money returned to investors that is less than the amount they had initially invested,” Michael Paulson reported for The New York Times. “Investment in theater is highly risky — most Broadway shows fail financially — so the industry wants to make it as attractive as possible.”

Supporters of the incentive hope that more plays are produced in the U.S. because of the change.

“We’re having incredible seasons these days, but it’s not always going to be that way, and I want to keep jobs in New York and, if not, certainly in the U.S.,” Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League, told the Times. “This will open the pipeline for more productions—it’s money producers can put into other shows.”

(photo credit: Justin in SD via photopin cc)

These are selected news articles that showed up in our inboxes on Monday morning that we want to pass along to you.

Suzhou International Expo Center to Build a Modern Expo Complex in China (PR Newswire)
“Its third phase of construction, which includes Suzhou Jinji Lake International Conference Center and Novotel Suzhou SIP, will be fully completed in March 2016.”

Trade Center’s Bob Coffey to Retire (BusinessInSavannah.com)
“A 36-year veteran of the hospitality industry, Coffey has been at the [Savannah International Trade & Convention Center] on Hutchinson Island since 2002.”

Olympia Unveils First 2 New Red Wings Arena Sponsors (Crain’s Detroit Business)
“Meijer Inc. and St. Joseph Mercy Health System are the first two major sponsors at the new Detroit Red Wings hockey arena.”

Michigan Governor Snyder Signs Bills Allowing Stadiums, Amusement Parks to Stock EpiPens (Wilx.com)
“Employees will be trained to administer them and will be allowed to use them when necessary.”

Stage Set for New Joondalup Performing Arts Centre (Communitynews.com.au)
“A feasibility study in 2012 reinforced there was a significant under-provision of these facilities in Perth’s northern corridor and a report in 2013 indicated there was a shortage of performing arts venues in Perth and a growing demand for suitable facilities.”

The Sacramento Kings plan to make Golden 1 Center the world’s most connected arena by agreeing to a multi-year partnership with Comcast Corp.

“The best fans in the world deserve the most connected arena in the world,” said Kings President Chris Granger in a statement. “Our partnership with Comcast enables fans and visitors to share their experiences and connect online seamlessly. It also ensures that Golden 1 Center, the public plaza, and DOCO’s connectivity will remain well above industry standards, even as consumer technology improves.”

According to the Kings’ press release, Comcast will install two, 100-gigabit Ethernet dedicated Internet circuits.

“The services will provide the back-end infrastructure enabling the team to provide free Wi-Fi for fans, power the Kings mobile app, and supply cloud-based voice and unified communications services for team members at the arena and at the team’s corporate offices,” the press release said. “As a result, the Internet connection at Golden 1 Center, as well as the public plaza and Downtown Commons (DOCO), will be over 17,000 times faster than the average home Internet connection, with the ability to handle more than 225,000 Instagram photo posts per second.”

Comcast Business will also provide the in-house video to TV monitors in the arena.

“We’re pleased to extend Comcast’s ever-evolving partnership with the Sacramento Kings and honored that Comcast Business will allow the fervent fans at Golden 1 Center to experience a live event in innovative and exciting ways, from ubiquitous Wi-Fi to advanced mobile applications and rich video content,” said Comcast’s Regional Vice President of Business Services for California Ted Girdner in a statement. “This agreement is representative of how Comcast can deliver reliable, high-capacity Internet connectivity for fans, media, and arena team members while supporting various multimedia initiatives by deploying our full suite of consumer and business products.”

(Image: Sacramento Kings)

We are pleased to announce that John Quiñones will be our keynote speaker at the 2016 Performing Arts Managers Conference (PAMC) in San Antonio, Texas, March 7-9.

Quiñones has won seven national Emmy Awards for his Primetime Live, Burning Questions, and 20/20 work. He was awarded an Emmy for his coverage of the Congo’s virgin rainforest, which also won the Ark Trust Wildlife Award, and in 1990 he received an Emmy for Window in the Past, a look at the Yanomamo Indians. He received a National Emmy Award for his work on the ABC documentary Burning Questions—The Poisoning of America, which aired in September 1988 and was also honored with a World Hunger Media Award and a Citation from the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards for To Save the Children, his 1990 report on the homeless children of Bogota. Among his other prestigious awards are the First Prize in International Reporting and the Robert F. Kennedy Prize for his piece on Modern Slavery — Children Sugar Cane Cutters in the Dominican Republic.

Registration is currently open for PAMC. See you in San Antonio!