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Golf and rugby sevens will both be on the programme for the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympic Games, after winning the approval of the International Olympic Committee in a vote today.

Figures from the sports and from the sponsorship industry said that Olympics inclusion will provide a major boost to both sports.

Tim Lacey, founder and Chief Executive of the Ultimate Rugby Sevens online community told Sport Business International that the decision would “transform the face of Sevens forever and bring unprecedented exposure, profile and funds to the game.”

“Rugby Sevens is currently seeing extraordinary growth across the world with hundreds of new tournaments set to launch in the next year to add to the thousands already hosted in over 100 counties,” he said. “The excitement, dynamism and global appeal of the sport means it has a well deserved place on the Olympic stage.”

Lacey added that the decision “is not only massive for Sevens, it is huge for rugby as a global sport.”

Giles Morgan, head of sponsorship at HSBC, which has sponsorship programmes in both sports, said that the growth in the sports encouraged by Olympics inclusion would inevitably attract sponsors, and so create a “virtuous circle” of investment and further growth.

“Rugby will develop at all levels,” he said. “National Olympic Committees (NOCs) will fund sports they think they can medal in. Rugby Sevens is easy to pick up and relies less on physical size and strength, and more on skill, than the 15-a-side version, so will attract NOCs in emerging markets. You will see more rugby played there, more competitions, more participation, and when that happens, sponsors will follow.

“The IOC wants to renew its sports programme to attract a younger generation as it revises its broadcasting plans to include new digital media.”

However Morgan noted that there was work to be done by both sports in the run-up to the 2016 Olympics. Golf, for instance, had to spread awareness of its accessibility.

Morgan backed up Tim Lacey’s view that the inclusion of Rugby Sevens would also benefit the 15-a-side format, saying Sevens would provide a “launch-pad” for new players and territories to develop the skills needed for the larger format.

Morgan also claimed Rugby Sevens’ potential Olympic entry could easily help double its current sponsorship money of about $15-20 million and that was being in his words, ‘conservative’.

Check out Tim Lacey at the England Sevens Fitness Testing