The inaugural Buildcorp National Rugby Championship will kick-off on August 21 with Brisbane City hosting Sydney Stars at Ballymore.

The competition featuring nine teams will run for 11 weeks, a nine-round minor premiership to decide semi-finalists and the grand final, The venue and date of the finals will be confirmed only when the competing teams are decided.

The opening round of fixtures also sees Melbourne Rising host North Harbour Rays at AAMI Park in Melbourne, Canberra Vikings play Perth Spirit at Viking Park in Canberra, and New South Wales Country Eagles face Greater Sydney Rams at Coogee Oval in Sydney. Queensland Country have the bye in the opening week.

The draw features matches to be played a curtain-raisers to Rugby Championship Tests on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane: Queensland Country host the Rays ahead of the Test between Australia and Argentina on the Gold Coast on September 13; and Brisbane City will host the Vikings in the final round of the minor premiership prior to the final Bledisloe Cup Test at Suncorp Stadium on October 18.

South Australian fans will also get a taste of the action, with the Spirit playing the Rams at Adelaide Airport Stadium on September 6.

Fixtures will be played through the season at a number of traditional rugby league grounds, including Leichhardt Oval, Brookvale Oval and Pirtek Stadium in Sydney, while Queensland Country and the Eagles will each play the majority of their home matches at a variety of regional centres as part of a strategy to re-engage with fans in regional Australia, the teams representing. NSW Country Eagles will play in Dubbo, Orange and Lismore, while Queensland Country will play home games on the Gold Coast, in Townsville and Brisbane.

"Consistent with our commitment to engage our fans and enhance the 'rugby experience', every NRC round will feature a number of family-friendly afternoon games on the weekend," Australian Rugby Union chief executive Bill Pulver said.

"With the draw now confirmed, players and supporters can start preparing for this terrific new competition. I encourage all Australian Rugby fans to pick a team and get behind this historic first season of the Buildcorp National Rugby Championship."

Rugby fans have also been asked to suggest law variations to be trialled in the inaugural year of the championship, and more than 600 suggestions to focus on enhancing exciting, attacking play are under consideration with the final changes to be announced in the coming weeks.

The competition is being sponsored by Fox Sports and Foxtel, with Fox Sports to broadcast one live match each week on a Thursday. The first five broadcast matches have been confirmed to include coverage of all nine teams, with the remaining broadcast matches to be scheduled.