The Houston SaberCats are an American professional
rugby union team based in
Houston, Texas. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in
Major League Rugby,[1] the top-level rugby union competition in the United States and Canada that played its first season in 2018. The SaberCats organization was born from one of the founding amateur rugby clubs that pooled resources to emerge professionally, and were the first in MLR membership to build a rugby-specific stadium intended for MLR competition.
Houston plays their games in
SaberCats Stadium, which was opened on April 13, 2019.[2] In February 2018, the City of Houston agreed to fund $3.2 million of the $15.25 million needed to build a permanent rugby stadium for use by the Houston SaberCats at
Houston Sports Park.[3] On July 17, the SaberCats announced that a three-year naming rights were awarded to British multinational software and technology company
Aveva, and that it would be initially known as "Aveva Stadium".[4] Following this deal, the venue became known as "SaberCats Stadium".
During the 2018 regular season, the SaberCats played their home matches at
Dyer Stadium[5] and trained at Athlete Training and Health in Houston. The team also played at
Constellation Field, home of the
Sugar Land Skeeters, for part of the 2019 season, and for their exhibition matches in 2017 and 2018.[6] Also, in April 2019, while the new pitch at SaberCats Stadium healed, the team returned to Dyer Stadium to play one match against San Diego before returning to SaberCats Stadium.
On March 12, 2020, MLR announced the season would go on hiatus immediately for 30 days due to fears surrounding the
2019–2020 coronavirus pandemic.[13] It was cancelled the following week[14]
The Houston SaberCats are an American professional
rugby union team based in
Houston, Texas. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in
Major League Rugby,[1] the top-level rugby union competition in the United States and Canada that played its first season in 2018. The SaberCats organization was born from one of the founding amateur rugby clubs that pooled resources to emerge professionally, and were the first in MLR membership to build a rugby-specific stadium intended for MLR competition.
Houston plays their games in
SaberCats Stadium, which was opened on April 13, 2019.[2] In February 2018, the City of Houston agreed to fund $3.2 million of the $15.25 million needed to build a permanent rugby stadium for use by the Houston SaberCats at
Houston Sports Park.[3] On July 17, the SaberCats announced that a three-year naming rights were awarded to British multinational software and technology company
Aveva, and that it would be initially known as "Aveva Stadium".[4] Following this deal, the venue became known as "SaberCats Stadium".
During the 2018 regular season, the SaberCats played their home matches at
Dyer Stadium[5] and trained at Athlete Training and Health in Houston. The team also played at
Constellation Field, home of the
Sugar Land Skeeters, for part of the 2019 season, and for their exhibition matches in 2017 and 2018.[6] Also, in April 2019, while the new pitch at SaberCats Stadium healed, the team returned to Dyer Stadium to play one match against San Diego before returning to SaberCats Stadium.
On March 12, 2020, MLR announced the season would go on hiatus immediately for 30 days due to fears surrounding the
2019–2020 coronavirus pandemic.[13] It was cancelled the following week[14]