Earlier this week, the International Rugby Board and the USA Sevens announced a new broadcast deal with NBC Sports here in the U.S.  NBC will broadcast eight hours of live coverage from the U.S. Sevens tournament in Las Vegas on Feb. 12 and 13.

NBC has previous experience in covering sevens rugby, having successfully covered the U.S. Collegiate Sevens championship earlier this year.  I hope that NBC selects the correct announce team (*ahem… ahem… right over here!*) who can explain rugby to the non-rugby fan as well as keep things exciting for the seasoned Olympic Rugby fan. 

It’s nice to see that the inclusion of Rugby in the 2016 Olympics, and that Administrators in the U.S. are taking advantage of this to help the sport grow in the U.S.

NBC Sports executive vice president Jon Miller said “Rugby Sevens is an exciting, fast-paced sport that is growing in global popularity, participation, and interest. NBC had the privilege of broadcasting the inaugural 2010 Rugby Sevens Collegiate Championship and is excited to expand its coverage of rugby by bringing the HSBC Sevens World Series to live network television for the first time.

A quick Tip O’ the Hat to my friend Kevin Hare for hooking me up with this info!