London: England’s governing Rugby Football Union is to invest in the game in the US in a bid to boost the “fastest growing team sport in America”.
The RFU, one of the sport’s wealthiest national boards, will become both a minority shareholder and strategic partner in USA Rugby’s new commercial subsidiary, Rugby International Marketing (RIM) amid speculation that matches in England’s elite Premiership club competition could be staged in the US.
However, a statement issued yesterday said the aim was to develop new revenue streams in the US such as the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018, which will take place in the San Francisco Bay area as well as sponsorship and broadcast deals.
An RFU statement said rugby was now the “fastest growing team sport in America” with participation numbers “in excess of one million”, with chief executive Ian Ritchie adding it made sense to invest in the “world’s largest sporting market”.
The US, long regarded as a ‘minnow’ rugby nation are certainly a rising force on the international stage.
Last season, the Eagles won their maiden World Rugby Sevens Series title when they triumphed in the London Sevens at Twickenham, while both their men’s and women’s teams have qualified for next year inaugural Olympic Sevens event at the 2016 Games in Rio.
And this year’s full 15-a-side Rugby World Cup, which starts in London in September, will mark the US’s seventh appearance in rugby’s showcase tournament since the first edition in 1987.
The RFU’s partnership with RIM follows the creation of the Rugby World Cup 2015 IMPACT Legacy Unity project, which has seen the union investing time and resource in developing rugby in 17 countries.
For the past two years, the RFU have reported revenues in excess of £150-million ($232-million).
&uuid=(email))