Last Updated on March 4, 2021 by
There’s a new sport around, and the way it is, it’s here to stay! Rugby is currently the fastest growing sport in the United States of America and there’s no doubt about it – it’s entertaining, fun, requires passion and enthusiasm. Here is some more information about the fastest growing sport in America.
People that just appreciate or play rugby should know how beautiful it is. And to be honest, the most rewarding occurrence that rugby offers is watching someone fall in love with the game for the first time. Most Americans may be lucky enough to watch this extravaganza on a large scale as we are slowly, but certainly, falling in love with this game.
Rugby has a global range that grows at an exponential rate although it might be unnoticed in some parts of the world. Just in 2016 only, the World Rugby organization reported that the number of people that plays rugby has risen from 4.91 million to 5.3 million. Since the re-inclusion of the game in the last Olympic Games, rugby has undergone a rebirth all around the world. As predicted by HSBS, rugby will have over 10 million players across the globe, in 2020.
In this article, we are going to talk about the fastest growing sport in America and some vital information about it. We will look into a short history and then 10 things about this beautiful sport of rugby.
| 7 Important Things You Should Know About The Development Of Rugby In The United States | Countries Where Rugby Sport Is Popular |
| Rugby is now officially an Olympic Sports | New Zealand |
| Most Rugby Players are Moving to the NFL | Wales |
| There are approximately thirty million fans of rugby in the United States | The United States |
| Rugby is the fastest growing sport in United States | Fiji |
| The United States Rugby Women’s team is rated 5th in the world | Georgia |
| The US Rugby Men’s team is rated 6th in the world | Madagascar |
| The United States of America may host the 2027 Rugby World Cup | Samoa |
Brief History Of Rugby In The United States Of America
The very first rugby game played in the United States was held on May 14, 1874, between McGill University and Harvard University teams. Historically, rugby developed in the early 1900s, sparked in part by American football’s conflict of 1905 to 1906 die to the misconception of American football to be a violent sport.
During this era, rugby was seen to be a better option to contest American football as the dominant football code all around the west coast. A United States rugby team comprised of a huge number of players from the University of Stanford won against France to receive the gold medal in the 1920 Summer Olympics held in Antwerp. The United States rugby team was also involved in the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris.
Does The United States Have Dominance In The Early Rugby?
Again, the United States team won against France in the final to receive the gold medal. Despite this dominance in the world of rugby, the sport still faded away in the United States. It was better 1960s and 1970s that rugby began its revival, as many high schools and colleges started building club rugby teams. The body governing rugby in the United States, called the USA Rugby, was established in 1975. The United States national team played for the very first time since 1924 Olympics against Australia team on 31 January 1976, in the front of 8,000 fans at Glover Stadium in Anaheim, CA. Australia defeated the USA national team with 24-12 points.
When Was The Inaugural Rugby World Cup Held?
In 1987, an inaugural Rugby World Cup was held, and USA national team participated excellently. Rugby later received a significant boost in the United States of America, in 2009 when the International Olympic Committee voted to put back right into the Summer Olympics that started in 2016.
Sir Winston Churchill, on of the 20th century’s most oft-quoted and iconic personalities, is often praised for making a funny statement about a sport developed in the 19th century: “Rugby is a hooligans game played by gentlemen.” All American fans might wince at the impression, but rough-and-tumble called rugby, describes what football was before developing into its present high status as the United States’ most famous sport. When speaking of most famous, rugby is relishing an upswing, not only in a trimmed-down rendition but also its basic format makes it more accessible.
Rugby sport alleges to be the fastest growing sport in the United States. As a matter of fact, Nielsen’s research suggests that the United States has more than fans either interested or very interested in the sport. The number of rugby players improved by more than one million in a 10-year measurement finishing up in 2016.
How Many Participants Does The U.S. Rugby Has In 2016?
As of 2016, the United States Rugby has over 124,000 participants playing in 2,673. However, there are more than 900 college teams overseen the USA Rugby. We believe that Rugby aficionados are working on increasing those thriving numbers this summer. On July 20-22 the Rugby World Cup Sevens is recorded to take place at AT&T Park in San Francisco. A total of 84 games will be played and it will feature the world’s best 17 women’s and 24 men’s teams.
Sevens is the trimmed-down version of the sport that tracks its conception to 1883. Sevens comprises of seven-person teams. The rules of the Sevens are exactly the same as fifteen-person rugby. Sevens games consist of two 7 ½ minutes halves although the conventional version of rugby uses an 80-minute contest. A big step forward was taken by Sevens on the international level in the early 1990s.
When Was The First Rugby World Cup Held?
The very first World Cup, which is normally held every 4 years, was held in 1993 as started above. Just six years after, World Cup Sevens series was initiated in 1996. Fortunately, Sevens was declared openly as a new Olympic sport and it made its debut in the Rio Games 2016. It will return again in 2020.
Dan Payne, the USA Rugby chief executive told CNN in 2017 that “having rugby in the Olympics offers an overall awareness and a legitimacy that we’ve not been able to achieve.” Dan was employed in early 2018 of the match in South and North America, starts up his assignments officially in July 2018. Rugby has enjoyed success outside of the United States for so long, having the same success in America could be a long process, but the hope is high now that the World Cup will be held in the United States for the very first time. If you can remember that United States Rugby national team won the gold medal the last time 15-man rugby was played in the Olympics, 1924 in Paris.
As a matter of fact, Mike Friday, who’s the United States Sevens coach, said that sevens is the key to unlocking rugby in America. He proceeded by saying “ most Americans are getting to believe that there is another interesting team sport they can fall in love with. Sevens has all the goodies for them – fast-moving, pace, physical collisions, hand-eye, evasive skills, power, and the game is played fast and thick and that’s the adrenaline dash that most Americans sport lovers want.”
7 Important Things You Should Know About The Development Of Rugby In The United States
Rugby is becoming more and more popular even if the US has a variety of different bizarre sports to choose from. Here are seven reasons why rugby is growing so fast in the United States.
1. Rugby Is Now Officially An Olympic Sports
Rugby made a stunning reappearance in the last summer Olympic Games, which features both the women’s and men’s teams. This popular even placed rugby on the radar of a variety of different countries for the very first time having attracted over three billion viewers worldwide.
2. Most Rugby Players Are Moving To The NFL
Many Americans’ rugby fans’ curiosity has been reawakened by the fact that rugby players can now easily cross over to the NFL. It was in the 1980s that the first rugby player migrates to the NFL, and the likes of Jordan Mailata and Alex Gray are traditionally making the sport a broad household term in the United States.
3. There Are Approximately Thirty Million Fans Of Rugby In The United States
The United States of America alone was estimated to have over thirty million rugby fans by World Rugby. There is a big movement towards rugby in the United States because of this reason. The players and the sport as a whole can have a superb growth opportunity by the size of the market itself.
4. Rugby Is The Fastest Growing Sport In United States
Rugby has grown 84.4% in popularity just between 2011 to 2016 even if most of the media’s awareness is focused on the achievement of the United States football team. This exponential growth rate is fueled by the national team’s success and efforts.
5. The United States Rugby Women’s Team Is Rated 5th In The World
At the time of writing this article, the United States rugby women’s team is ranked 5th in the whole world, which is incredibly remarkable. Besides, the USA rugby women’s team are also one of the three teams to win the Rugby World Cup for Women. Not only is women’s rugby thriving at the premium level, but the NCAA has also acknowledged it as a rising sport. In the US, there about 11,000 female players registered at the collegiate level.
6. The US Rugby Men’s Team Is Rated 6th In The World
The United States rugby men’s team is currently ranked 6th in the world, just like the women’s team. Although they finished 5th in the ratings of last year, 2018 was the best year of the Eagles as they achieved their first title that broke off a 3-year drought. They were the winner if of the USA Sevens Cup, after defeating the likes of England and Fiji before thrashing Argentina team in the finals to claim the title.
7. The United States Of America May Host The 2027 Rugby World Cup
Right, this may be unbelievable of you see it superficially. But, considering the fact that high World Rugby executives like Brett Gosper have inferred the US to submit a bid to host the 2027 World Cup, it is not such an impossible thought after all. The truth remains that the United States has everything needed to host a flourishing Rugby World Cup. With a solid tourist infrastructure, awesome sporting venues, and national media ready to air the famous event, you should not be surprised to see the US running to host the famous event.
Conclusion
We’ve come to the final session of this article. We hope you now know the fastest growing sport in America. Also, we hope that the seven points why rugby is considered the fastest growing sport were helpful too. Don’t hesitate to ask questions. Good day!
