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WER announces inaugural six team identities created in partnership with MATTA

MATTA and WER drew inspiration from the teams’ home cities, along with crucial input from local players and fans

As the US’s first professional women’s rugby league embarks on its inaugural season, Women’s Elite Rugby – WER – reveals their newly-developed team identities created in partnership with London-based creative agency MATTA.

Women’s rugby is one of the fastest growing team sports in the world. Hot on the heels of a phenomenal Olympic games in Paris for the US team and Ilona Maher—the most followed rugby player in the world, male or female—the first American professional women’s rugby league has been established. Women’s Elite Rugby aims to be the defining standard of rugby in North America, raising world-class women’s rugby to new heights in the run up to hosting the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2033.

To create the identities of the six new teams, WER has partnered with specialist sports brand and creative agency MATTA—who have committed to accelerating the growth of women’s rugby ever since creating the Red Roses team brand for England Rugby in 2016.

With the league launching in March, MATTA collaborated closely with former-rugby player and WER President Jessica Hammond-Graf, along with her team at WER, to develop the league’s strategic position and create the names and crests for the newly-formed teams, maximising this exciting moment for the sport in a year that promises to deliver a record-breaking Women’s Rugby World Cup in England.

MATTA and WER drew inspiration from the teams’ home cities, along with crucial input from local players and fans. The visual identities position the teams as high-energy, risk-taking, intense, but also full of inspiring, fearless women athletes and fierce action that will take place on the pitch throughout the season.

In doing so, the league is redefining the perception of rugby in the US, challenging norms and ideals, and creating space for women to discover new role models and exert their unique strengths.

The inaugural WER team names and crests, revealed today along with the inspiration behind them, are: Bay Breakers, Boston Banshees, Chicago Tempest, Denver Onyx, New York Exiles, and the Twin Cities (TC) Gemini.

Jessica Hammond-Graf, President at Women’s Elite Rugby, said: “Our ambition is to transform the US’ semi-professional league into one that can compete on the world stage with the most progressive competitions. MATTA’s creative direction has taken the sport into a dynamic new place, capturing the excitement of the sport and the passion of its fans. The team has listened to us, challenged us, and we’re so delighted with the result.”

Flo Williams, Director of Women’s Sport at MATTA, said: “From our first meeting with WER in New York to unveiling the six team identities, it’s been an honour to be part of this integral evolution of the women’s sports landscape. Drawing on a decade of experience shaping women’s rugby in the UK, we’re proud to have created bold, US-aligned brands that will inspire the next generation of rugby players and fans globally.”

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