NOLA Gold’s decision to not play in the 2026 Major League Rugby season has led to a potential conflict with the players contracted to the team.
This week the players signed an open letter to their fans and supporters that outlines a major grievance with the club. Players contracted through the end of 2025 and also through the end of 2026 were offered a very different deal as a severance. To quote from the letter:
Recently, NOLA Gold Rugby announced that it will not be participating in the 2026 Major League Rugby season. This was heartbreaking for us, as it was for many of you. To make matters worse, many of us had signed guaranteed contracts that ran through at least the 2026 season. These weren’t handshakes or casual promises; they are legally binding agreements. We counted on them to support our families and plan our futures.
For NOLA Gold, stepping away from Major League Rugby to focus on grassroots development of the game appears to have been a strategic business decision.
Yet instead of honoring the agreements we signed in good faith, the team offered us just one month of pay and asked us to sign away all the other rights and protections that our contracts guaranteed.
Players expect more than just a month of pay for contracts that could last over a year. So the players have opted not to sign anything or accept that deal.
NOLA player Malcolm May spoke with GRR about the issue.
“It’s not that we’ve offered something else and they said ‘no.’ It’s that they haven’t said anything,” May said. “They won’t come to the table and talk to us.”
When the team pulled out of the league the players were given very short notice. The day before everything was announced the players were informed “the team is folding, you’ll get your severance,” said May. Of the 40 rostered players, about 20 were contracted through 2026. May said that while the players understand there is a financial issue with the club, the club itself must understand the financial strain they have put the players under—they moved. Their kids have enrolled in school. Some will probably have to step away from rugby because of the late notice of the pullout.
