US gets nod to host 2031 World Cup
DUBLIN: International rugby chief Bill Beaumont said on Thursday the sport would have a crack at the “golden nugget” after the World Cup was awarded to the United States for the first time.
The US will stage both the 2031 men’s and 2033 women’s tournaments while Australia will hold the men’s World Cup in 2027 and the women’s tournament two years later. England has been named as host of the 2025 women’s tournament.
By taking the showpiece event to North America, as opposed to a traditional rugby territory, officials hope to make a dent in a lucrative market dominated by home-grown sports such as American football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey.
“For the USA to have the certainty of two World Cups, men’s and women’s, will enormously help the game in the USA to grow,” World Rugby chairman Beaumont told a news conference.
Beaumont, speaking after the global governing body confirmed the hosts for the next five World Cups, said the United States was seen as the “golden nugget that everybody wants to get hold of”.
“It is, probably, the world’s biggest sporting market,” the former England captain added.
“It has a huge amount of fantastic athletes, men and women, who probably don’t really see a lot of rugby.
“What this will do, it will give an opportunity to many, many people, girls and boys, men and women, to appreciate our great game.
“When we leave the USA, what we will leave is an extremely sustainable, vibrant sport that will go from strength to strength.”
USA Rugby chief executive Ross Young said staging the two World Cups would be a “paradigm-shifting catalyst for the growth of our sport”.