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more »US Collegiate Sevens to be televised on network NBC
Since the Olympic decision, sevens in the USA has been rife with rumours regarding new tournaments and concepts. USA Sevens have once again shown their belief in the 7s marketplace and have been able to get the new Rugby Sevens Collegiate Championship televised this summer.
NBC has agreed to broadcast the first Rugby Sevens collegiate championship June 5-6, marking what NBC believes is the first time college rugby games have appeared on broadcast television.
The round-robin tournament will be held at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, and feature 16 teams, including Notre Dame, Ohio State, Florida, Cal, Harvard and Yale.
NBC will broadcast the games in the 4:30-6:00pm ET time slot on both Saturday and Sunday, while Universal Sports will air coverage from 2:00-4:30pm both days. NBC Sports Exec VP Jon Miller said, "Rugby Sevens is an exciting, fast-paced sport that is growing in global popularity, participation and interest.
USA Sevens is the ideal partner for this event, which features the best collegiate rugby teams in the country." Rugby Sevens will make its Olympic debut at the ‘16 Rio de Janeiro Games.
Competing College VIIs
Arizona State, Notre Dame, Army, Ohio State, Cal, Penn State, Dartmouth, Stanford, Florida, Tennessee, Harvard, San Diego State, Michigan, Utah, Navy, Yale
In previous years, Sevens fans have seen the Collegiate All-Stars team compete against the other regional All-Stars tournament 2 weeks after Nationals in August in what was called the All-Star Championship. As Sevens in America is growing and maturing tournaments are being replaced and relaunched to mirror this.
The Collegiate Championships will showcase the best of Colllege Rugby Sevens, college rugby has been a thriving at 15s level for many years and will now get the chance to do the same in the shorter form of the game.
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COMMENTS
Pete Velcofsky Sat 6 Mar 2010 16:51
Great job by NBC getting this sport on the air in prime time. It looks like the schools picked to compete are big name schools with big alumni fan base, but not the best USA rugby teams. Delaware, Kutztown and Life College could beat 80% of the teams in the tournament. Marco Barnard graduated from Kutztown University in December and is currently a standout on the USA National Sevens team. Don't overlook these teams with great rugby programs going forward. Thanks, Pete Velcofsky
Reply | Report this Poststeve hunt Fri 9 Apr 2010 20:21
This is great for the sport. Would it not have been better to have some regional qualifiers to assure you are getting the best teams in the championship and not just these big name schools? Only then would it be a true collegiate championship. This could have easily been done. My money says at least 50 percent of these players will be playing in the first 7s games of their lives. Does this make for the best product for a national tv broadcast? Does it show off our sport as well as it could? Hopefully if this becomes a yearly event someone can take control of the process and widen its focus. Thanks, Steve Hunt
Reply | Report this PostPat Sat 5 Jun 2010 19:16
This is a great sport with fast action and dedicated players.
Reply | Report this PostGo Navy!!
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