Newcastle vs Saracens on Saturday night marked the second Aviva Premiership match to be hosted in the US, and the game was marred by one of the lowest crowd attendances I have seen in the game - sitting at just under 6,000 spectators.
I wondered about the state of the game of Rugby in the US and wanted to investigate whether it would ever take off.
March saw the US hosting a leg of the international 7s calendar, with 80,000 plus fans attending across the three days - a significant barometer of the game's hopes in a very unsaturated US sports market.
The game currently sits at 17th for participation in the US, very much still a start-up sport relative to the more mature sports of American Football and Lacrosse. Numbers are definitely on the rise, and future participation and strong performance in Rugby World Championships will no doubt increase it further.
USA Rugby is currently targeting the 5-13 year-old grassroots game, and has enlisted the help of a certain Waisale Serevi - one of the greatest 7s players to grace the game.
The US needs a major international rugby star to come through their ranks and act as a role model for the youth game. Rugby doesn't have the legacy that it does in New Zealand or England, and most athletic kids grow up wanting to be a Tom Brady type figure - so head over to American Football.
Rugby is also still after a Major Rugby League on terms to that of the NFL or the MLS. And USA Rugby need to sort a deal ASAP to get a league like this up-and-running for the benefit of the sport.
To conclude, I believe Rugby has the potential to become one of the top 5 participated sports in the US, and with participation declining in the main sports in the US I think it won't be long until it catches on.
No because they have their weak knock off called "football" that is played mostly with your hands, take breaks every 30 seconds and requires padding and helmets (pussy shit). Mostly it's a bunch of grown men grab assing with eachother..
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Hi! Thanks for sharing. Personally I play rugby, and this game is really great. I also follow professional championships and tournaments, it is quite interesting for me. Also I sometimes bet on games via https://getonlinebet.com/rugby/ site, good way to get additional money.
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