The prospective club is the Buffalo Thunderbolts Rugby Club, which was registered as a legal business entity in New York State on October 30, 2026. The project is being led by film producer Joe DiPasquale and former Miami Sharks CEO Mark Winokur.

The Thunderbolts — a name inspired by the World War II plane manufactured at the Curtiss aviation factories in Buffalo — also have the support of Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan and New York State Assemblyman Bill Conrad. Conversations are underway to secure a stadium, and the ownership group is working to acquire further investment and sponsorship agreements.

“Buffalo is one of America’s great sports cities, and we would be excited to welcome Major League Rugby to our community,” Mayor Sean Ryan said. “I’m proud to support Joe DiPasquale and Mark Winokur’s efforts to bring an expansion team to Buffalo. This is an opportunity to build on our city’s proud sports tradition, introduce more people to rugby, and give our fans another team to rally behind.”

The letter of intent (LOI) signed by both parties is the first of three major steps in MLR’s expansion process. In the coming months, the Buffalo group must finalize its ownership group, provide proof of capitalization, demonstrate its expected fan engagement process, and show its preliminary business opportunity plans.

The league will determine whether those plans are acceptable by the end of April. If all goes well, the Thunderbolts and MLR will sign an exclusive negotiation agreement, giving the Buffalo group the rights to that territory (Western New York) for a specific period of time. After that, the Thunderbolts will submit a final bid to secure a franchise agreement.

Major League Rugby Co-President Alexander Magleby told RugbyPass that MLR hopes to announce two new franchises after the 2027 championship game. The league’s stated goal is to have eight teams going into the 2028 season and twelve by the time the 2031 Rugby World Cup in the US rolls around.