Gosper predicts rugby boom in America
WORLD Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper believes this year’s Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco could ignite interest in the sport across America, raising the possibility of a US bid for the 15-a-side World Cup in 2027.
Wednesday marked the 100-day countdown to the seventh edition of rugby’s four-yearly Sevens spectacular, which will be staged at San Francisco’s iconic AT&T Park baseball stadium from July 20-22.
NBC television will broadcast the World Cup Sevens, and in recent years has begun live broadcasts of English Premiership rugby and the Six Nations.
Recent research commissioned by World Rugby found there were an estimated 33 million rugby fans in the United States who described themselves as either very interested or interested in the sport.
Gosper believes July’s tournament in California can be a “game-changer” for rugby in America.
“It’s something that can ignite the sport in the US,” he said. “So seeing rugby almost normalised in an American context, in an iconic American stadium, with free-to-air coverage on NBC television, promoted by NBC, I think will be quite a game-changer for the sport.
“We’re realistic. It’s only three days. And you can’t change the world in three days. But you can light something and create a detonator for greater things later. It will give people more confidence to host more events in America.”
The next Rugby World Cup will take place in Japan in 2019, with France hosting the 2023 event – and Gosper believes that an American bid for 2027 is a possibility.
“I don’t think that’s out of the question,” he said. “They’ll have to go some to get there but there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be candidates.”
Meanwhile, Gosper said the format used at this year’s World Cup Sevens — a straight knockout competition featuring 24 teams could eventually be introduced across World Sevens Circuit.
“Each game counts” Gosper said. “I wouldn’t call it a trial but it’s likely that this format moves into the general HSBC Sevens series in the next cycle.”