The teams competing are:  In July 2014, five eastern clubs announced the formation of the American Rugby Premiership, consisting of two teams from New York, two from Boston, and one from Atlanta. The competition schedule involves eight matches played in a split season, with the first half of the season during September–October, a winter break, and the remaining half of the season in April–May, culminating in a challenge match between the champions of the Pacific and the Atlantic competitions. In 2016, Mystic River Rugby Club became a full member of the ARP, replacing Life RFC in a reformatted competition. The teams competing are:  In 2015 eight Midwestern clubs announced the formation of the Midwest Rugby Premiership, consisting of two teams from Chicago, two from Ohio (Cincinnati and Columbus), and one each from Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Davenport, IA. The MRP is a Division 1 competition that began play in fall of 2015. The season runs from September to May, with a 14-game regular-season schedule in which teams play each other twice, a playoff semi final, culminating in a one-game championship match in May. In November 2015, in conjunction with the Red River Premiership the Metropolis RFC, Kansas City RFC, Austin Blacks RFC and Dallas Reds RFC took part in the inaugural USA Rugby sanctioned first round of the Gold Cup. The teams competing are:  The development of a domestic professional rugby competition is seen as a key step in the growth of rugby in the United States. USA Rugby CEO Nigel Melville predicted in 2012 that professional rugby would come to the United States by 2015. Melville was quoted in 2014 as saying "We can do it in two years, it will be city-driven and we will start with six [teams] and we will go from there." U.S. national team assistant coach Justin Fitzpatrick said in 2015 that by 2016 the U.S. will have resolved to create a professional domestic rugby competition. Griffins Rugby, based in Dallas, announced its goal of becoming a professional rugby club. Jake Abbott became the first professional player to join Griffins from English club Worcester Warriors, and by 2015 the club had signed four professional players. In November 2015, the Professional Rugby Organization (PRO Rugby) announced that it was launching a USA Rugby-sanctioned professional competition in 2016. Teams played at medium-size venues, with a 12-match schedule from April to July 2016. The five teams were Denver, Ohio, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco. On December 21, 2016, the league announced that its investors has pulled funding and that league operations would be suspended indefinitely.