Rugby is not even a blip on the radar screen as a sport in the USA. That's not to say that people here aren't trying to introduce the sport to the masses--and have been playing it for quite some time. We have a domestic rugby league, the Rugby Super League, and College Rugby, and the sport is played in probably thousands of small parks across the nation, including this one less than a mile from my house (as the crow flies.)
Where does that leave us? Well, seemingly with a long way to go towards respectability for us fans of the sport. I have to admit that I have never played or watched a rugby game in person. I have seen a few books, read a few articles, and generally keep up with the game through the Internet and, as I have found out, through iPhone apps. OK, I am too cheap to buy the "official" USA app--I have a bunch of freebies. But you can, if you wish in the information age, keep up with the sport in general terms in a way that was never possible 20 or 30 years ago.
Call this blog my infinitesimally-small contribution to the promotion of rugby as a sport in the USA.
To me, there are so many parallels between soccer in the 1970's and rugby in 2010. Now there are significant differences--soccer in the USA can draw 50,000-plus fans and rugby may never draw even 30,000--but in where it was and what it can be--the growth of soccer in the United States provides a rough road map to change rugby's fortunes in a 300-million person media market like the USA.
Getting a World Cup here could almost certainly change the perception of rugby forever. The 1994 Soccer World Cup in the USA was a huge success for FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, and the US soccer federation. It provided the springboard to our soccer domestic league--MLS--which if not thriving today is at least alive and growing.
However, like the 1970's, the USA is light years behind getting a world cup in rugby. Given today's economic environment in an age of layoff, cutbacks and corporate and government downsizing, the International Rugby Board (IRB) may never back a movement to bring a World Cup to North America.
Having TV coverage will certainly help as well. I just signed up for Fox Soccer Channel Plus, which carries Tri-Nations, Super 14, Currie Cup, and a bevy of other leagues and tournaments around the world to watch on my TV here in Louisiana. Universal Sports, owned by NBC, just signed on to broadcast the Rugby World Cup, though the broadcasts are primarily online-based and not on your TV in front of your favorite chair. The final, though, will be telecast but with the disclaimer that it may be on a delay. That may seem harsh, but with the 2011 World Cup being in New Zealand, many of the games will be taking place while most people in the USA will be asleep or trying to stay awake.
One more thing going for rugby, not necessarily related to the growth of soccer in the US but certainly helping the sport, is that the Sevens version of rugby (seven a side as opposed to fifteen aside) will make it debut in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janiero, Brazil.
Hold your breath--the USA men, if they qualify, will at least have the privilege of being the last country to win a gold-medal in rugby, even though it was the 15's and it was won in 1924. The USA also won gold in 1920.
Hey, you have to start somewhere.
Where does that leave us? Well, seemingly with a long way to go towards respectability for us fans of the sport. I have to admit that I have never played or watched a rugby game in person. I have seen a few books, read a few articles, and generally keep up with the game through the Internet and, as I have found out, through iPhone apps. OK, I am too cheap to buy the "official" USA app--I have a bunch of freebies. But you can, if you wish in the information age, keep up with the sport in general terms in a way that was never possible 20 or 30 years ago.
Call this blog my infinitesimally-small contribution to the promotion of rugby as a sport in the USA.
To me, there are so many parallels between soccer in the 1970's and rugby in 2010. Now there are significant differences--soccer in the USA can draw 50,000-plus fans and rugby may never draw even 30,000--but in where it was and what it can be--the growth of soccer in the United States provides a rough road map to change rugby's fortunes in a 300-million person media market like the USA.
Getting a World Cup here could almost certainly change the perception of rugby forever. The 1994 Soccer World Cup in the USA was a huge success for FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, and the US soccer federation. It provided the springboard to our soccer domestic league--MLS--which if not thriving today is at least alive and growing.
However, like the 1970's, the USA is light years behind getting a world cup in rugby. Given today's economic environment in an age of layoff, cutbacks and corporate and government downsizing, the International Rugby Board (IRB) may never back a movement to bring a World Cup to North America.
Having TV coverage will certainly help as well. I just signed up for Fox Soccer Channel Plus, which carries Tri-Nations, Super 14, Currie Cup, and a bevy of other leagues and tournaments around the world to watch on my TV here in Louisiana. Universal Sports, owned by NBC, just signed on to broadcast the Rugby World Cup, though the broadcasts are primarily online-based and not on your TV in front of your favorite chair. The final, though, will be telecast but with the disclaimer that it may be on a delay. That may seem harsh, but with the 2011 World Cup being in New Zealand, many of the games will be taking place while most people in the USA will be asleep or trying to stay awake.
One more thing going for rugby, not necessarily related to the growth of soccer in the US but certainly helping the sport, is that the Sevens version of rugby (seven a side as opposed to fifteen aside) will make it debut in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janiero, Brazil.
Hold your breath--the USA men, if they qualify, will at least have the privilege of being the last country to win a gold-medal in rugby, even though it was the 15's and it was won in 1924. The USA also won gold in 1920.
Hey, you have to start somewhere.
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