Sports Media Report
Every year the Las Vegas Sevens has brought record crowds to Las Vegas for the Olympic sport of rugby. Over 80,000 people from around the world piled in to Sin City last year, and combined with a UFC event, made the first weekend in March a record sports extravaganza even for a city that loves big events.
Next year, the Rugby Sevens World Cup will look to bring even more pop to the U.S., as the sports continues to grow in the US. The event will be in the Bay Area next July, so as a preview to it, United World Sports, the producer of the two largest annual rugby events in the US (Las Vegas and the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championships in June) today announced the creation of The Silcon Valley Sevens, which will be held this coming November at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, the home of the MLS Earthquakes.
The event is scheduled for Saturday, November 4th and Sunday, November 5th and will feature 12 nations including Tonga, Samoa and Fiji along with the United States, Canada, Australia, England, Chile, New Zealand, Japan and China.
“It is exciting to establish Silicon Valley 7s as a season-opening annual tournament that will set the pace for the 2017-2018 rugby campaign,” said Jeff McDowell, EVP/CMO of United World Sports. “With 12 of the top rugby 7s teams in the world coming to San Jose, we anticipate a high-level of interest in this high-performance competition. Silicon Valley 7s brings the world’s fastest growing Olympic sport to a whole new audience, in a way that allows even the most casual of sports fans to see close-up the power of rugby 7s.”
Tickets for the event will go on sale next week, and media partners are to be determined.
“The addition of Silicon Valley 7s to the international schedule, and its debut in San Jose, further validates the growth of rugby in the United States.” added Dan Payne, Chief Executive Officer of USA Rugby. “It is going to be a great event for rugby fans on the West Coast, a strong lead in tournament for the Men’s 7s team in preparation for the HSBC Sevens World Series and a great opportunity to add a high caliber event to the domestic calendar with our partner, United World Sports.”
The event appears to be well timed, and is another great sign of the growth of one of the world’s most popular sport, ahead of the World Cup, and with Tokyo 2020 not that far off. Certainly an event worth putting on the calendar.
