Women's Elite Rugby

Women's Elite Rugby (WER) is a proposed annual semi-professional women's rugby union club competition to supersede the amateur Women's Premier League at the top level of the United States rugby union system. It is to be contested by six to eight clubs run by investor-operators, with all front office staff to be paid on a full-time basis, and players to be paid monthly stipends.

History
Having deemed its amateur pay-to-play model as "no longer sustainable", the Women's Premier League (WPL), an iteration of the top-level women's rugby union club competition in the United States founded in 2009, embarked on its "Ignite the Change" campaign in 2022 that sought to professionalize women's rugby union in the United States. The campaign led to a board of directors being formed in mid-2023 to establish a for-profit professional league, to capitalize on the perceived rise of professional women's sports, and both the 2028 Olympic rugby sevens tournament and 2033 Women's Rugby World Cup to be hosted in the United States. A retention of American players and an expansion of rugby union's reach into the American sports market were also touted as goals for the new league; twelve of the United States national team's 2024 Pacific Four Series squad played in England's semi-professional league instead of an American league.

The league was publicly unveiled as "Women's Elite Rugby" in an April 2024 press conference, announcing that its inaugural season will be played in 2025, and that it'll seek to be profitable by its third season. A funding round that same month raised $500,000 for the league through SAFEs with the venture capital firm Chasing Rainbows, and former Procter & Gamble executive Deb Henretta, along with other unnamed family offices and private equity firms. In May, the league embarked on a seed round with an aim to raise $3 million, and are planning a series A round in early 2025.

Organization
Women's Elite Rugby's president is former rugby sevens national team player Jessica Hammond-Graf, and its vice president is Department of Justice legal historian and information specialist Katherine Aversano, while former Dallas Jackals general manager Phil Camm is its executive adviser. Stacy Carone, Koma Gandy, Jenny Houlihan, and Hallie Martin also sit on the league's board of directors alongside Hammond-Graf and Aversano. The league and its teams' front office staff will be paid on a full-time basis.

Teams
Women's Elite Rugby aims to have six to eight teams of up to thirty contracted players each in its inaugural 2025 season, with plans to expand beyond eight teams within its first ten seasons. Each team will be run by investor-operators with shares in the league, while the league itself will retain a degree of control over the recruitment of players and personnel. The seven members of the WPL – Beantown RFC, Berkeley All Blues, Chicago North Shore, Colorado Grey Wolves, Life West Gladiatrix, New York RC, and Twin Cities Amazons – are in discussions for potential promotion to the league. The 2025 season will be semi-professional – players will be compensated with monthly stipends throughout the season.