Could Rugby Sevens helps MLS in the future?

[pc4th]

I seen it on the Rugby Club last night and I was amazed at how fast, exciting, hard-hitting and violence it is. It's simply a great game to watch.

Of all the type of rugby games, I believe Rugby Sevens has the better chance of becoming a successful league in American compare to the other types of rugby. But that's another argument and just my opinion.

Here is how I envision Rugby Sevens (assuming that it has the highest likelihood of success of all types of rugby in America) is going to help MLS. The answer is simply: SSS

more events for SSS and thus more revenue for MLS by leasing the stadium. There is no other sports that could use SSS beside a few high school games and college soccer games. Outdoor Lacrosse is another option but I doubt SSS would specific for them in term of their attendance or lack there of. Rugby Sevens might fit the role because I believe they can draw as good as MLS if not better.

However, Rugby Sevens is a pretty short game totalling 20 minutes with two 10 minutes halves. Maybe a 40 minutes game with four 10 minutes quarters would work.

I don't know much about Rugby and how it works, just seen Rugby Sevens twice and WC Rugby Final once. But I was blown-away on how exciting Rugby Sevens was when watching it last night. I know it will comes to HDC this weekend and I am interested in how well it will do in term of attendance. I wish I could be there too, it seems like tons of fun. I heard it is the biggest annual sporting event in Hong Kong drawing 70,000 ppl in attendance annually or something like that. Drew 33,000 in a sold out stadium in NZ last weekend (I believe).

Anyway, just saw the correlation between MLS's growing list of SSS and a sport that could share those SSS with MLS. Seeing how exciting Rugby Sevens is and I know that many Americans will too, it is not inconceivable to believe that it will be the next big thing. I like the NFL and college football, but I got to say, Rugby Sevens blew them all away.

With SSS in Los Angeles, Columbus, Dallas, Chicago, New York, Denver possibly 2 years from now and D.C, San Jose down the road, this Rugby Sevens could have eight 20,000-27,000 rugby-specific-stadium for this league to use. Rochester, Charleston SSS might be other good locations. I wouldn't be surprise of Anschutz team up with Murdoch and form such league say 3 years from now.
Maybe Uncle Phil will be in attendance this weekend at the HDC checking things out.

Anyway, what do you guys think? Could it work?
Oh, if you have FSW, watch the Rugby Club this week because they show tons of Rugby Sevens highlights and this weekend on FSW about 9 hours of LIVE COVERAGE from the HDC.

oh here is the benefits of Rugby Sevens in forming a league:

-less expensive (because only 7 starters instead of 15)

-it's a better American spectatorial viewing (in my opinion) than Rugby League or Rugby Union

-MLS already has a staff for soccer, they can be use for rugby if the league play from February till May or something like that.

anyone seen Rugby Sevens and what do you think of it? Would it draw well if the quality is about the same as those participating in the Ruby Sevens Series?

[pc4th]

found two useful articles about Rugby Sevens.

Olympic push for rugby sevens in 2012

http://rugbyheaven.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/05/1075854002040.html

and

USA Rugby: USA RUGBY Announces Team ROC As Title Sponsor of USA SEVENS

http://www.usarugby.org/cgi-bin/02/press/display.pl?releaseId=673

The TEAM ROC USA SEVENS has been awarded to USA RUGBY for the next three years, and follows the surge of excitement for the sport generated from the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

“Rugby is the second-biggest international team sport and the second-fastest growing team sport in the U.S.,” said Dash. “It’s progressive and aggressive and I’m proud to support the TEAM ROC USA SEVENS. On a localized level, I want to establish a Rugby league in New York for kids and then roll it out in other major urban areas like Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Oakland, etc. I want to make Rugby accessible and exciting to them.”
The powerful international ROC brand includes Roc-a-Fella Records, Rocawear clothing, Armadale Vodka, Dash Films, ROC films, ROC music, State Property and C. Ronson clothing and Team ROC. Dash has built an empire around the highly-revered hip-hop music kingdom, shaping the culture of this dynamic musical genre since creating Roc-a-Fella Records in 1995 with friend and multi-platinum rapper Jay-Z. Roc-a-Fella and their partner, Def Jam, consistently rank top-three among urban music competitors and have over ten gold and platinum records under their belts with artists including DJ Clue, Memphis Bleek and Beanie Sigel.

“USA RUGBY is honored to be associated with Team ROC,” said USA RUGBY CEO Doug Arnot. “Damon Dash and the entire Team Roc group have done a phenomenal job of taking the success of the ROC brand, and harnessing it to benefit America’s urban youth. The sport of Rugby will greatly benefit from Damon’s enthusiasm and support.

hip-hop and rugby, an odd partnership. :)

I hope this statement is true:
Rugby is the second-biggest international team sport and the second-fastest growing team sport in the U.S

[NEKSoccer]

Originally posted by pc4th


-it's a better American spectatorial viewing (in my opinion) than Rugby League or Rugby Union



This tournament IS a rugby union tournament. The difference is that they will be using 7 players on a team instead of the full-blown 15. Also, games only last 20 minutes instead of 80.

Rugby League, on the other hand, is 13 players to a team. They do have sevens as well. The rules are also different. This is the game that most closely resembles our own American Football.

I hope that both codes of rugby (union and league) get a following in terms of attracting spectators as well as attracting participants.

[papa surf]

I have been involved with Rugby for some time, It is a passion like soccer, and the players will tell you it is always about the friends. Now Sevens is wonderful, as a league it would be a hard sell, as a Tourney it could do well. Rugby league is in some circles the game the US public might like, BUT I am here to say that Rugby Union is growing. Kids are looking to play at all levels. High Schools are popping up all over, I am always being asked , always, to teach. Soccer has opened so many doors for rugby and my thoughts are that rugby is where soccer was in the late 70's earlier.

[pc4th]

Originally posted by NEKSoccer
This tournament IS a rugby union tournament. The difference is that they will be using 7 players on a team instead of the full-blown 15. Also, games only last 20 minutes instead of 80.

Rugby League, on the other hand, is 13 players to a team. They do have sevens as well. The rules are also different. This is the game that most closely resembles our own American Football.

I hope that both codes of rugby (union and league) get a following in terms of attracting spectators as well as attracting participants.

thanks, I didn't know that. My knowledge of rugby is 2 Sevens game and Rugby WC Final so it is very limited. However, I am doing some research to educate myself.

But right now, I will stick with my opinion in which Rugby Sevens is the most likely of Rugby types to succeed in America. I hope that there will be a league soon that can take advantage of MLS's growing list of SSS.

p.s. is the rugby playing field bigger than a soccer playing field? Maybe that is why the HDC soccer field is wider and larger than necessary?

[pc4th]

Originally posted by papa surf
Now Sevens is wonderful, as a league it would be a hard sell, as a Tourney it could do well.


Just curious, why do you think as a league, Sevens would be a hard-sell?

I know it would be nowhere the level of the Tourney where national pride is at stake and the whole event is like a festival/party for 2 days. But there are benefits to the league too. As long as the product is good and the game is entertaining, there will be fans in the stand. And from what I can see on TV, it's just that: Exciting, fast-paced, hard-tackles, lot of scoring, fun. The only problem I see is that Rugby Sevens is short. It's only a 20 minutes game. But that can be fixed to a 60 minutes game with 15 minutes per quarter. However, the players will be tired really quickly with all the running, but substitutions could help the players rest. Or the game can be kept at 20 minutes, but there will be 3 games instead of 1. For example, LA vs. Chicago at HDC, the two teams will play 3 games and those 3 games are counted individually. I did some research and found that Rugby Sevens Tourney started in 1997. That's pretty amazing giving the state of popularity it has reach 6/7 years later.

One added bonus of Sevens League instead of a Tourney is that every single game will matter to the fans on the stand. The same thing can't be say for the people attending in the Tourney because most people in LA will not likely care much about the result between say Korea vs. Argentina. They will cheer and applaud on the good plays and such but it won't be the same passion as when they are cheering for the USA scoring against say England. The Seven League could change all that.

However, without say, I believe Rugby has a bright future ahead of it in the US. There will be a Rugby League sometime in the future. However, it will be interesting to see what kind of league it would be: Rugby Union, Rugby League or Rugby Sevens.

I believe Rugby Sevens has the best chance of success.

[Sandon Mibut]

I watched the Rugby World Cup last year and really enjoyed it.

But, I didn't understand a lot of what was going on. I figured out a lot the more I watched the tournament, but still have a very basic question or two.

What is the differenc between Rugby Union and Rugby League? Is Australian Rules Football the same as either of them or a third and different animal? And, what are these sevens that we're talking about here?

[skipshady]

Originally posted by Sandon Mibut
What is the differenc between Rugby Union and Rugby League? Is Australian Rules Football the same as either of them or a third and different animal? And, what are these sevens that we're talking about here? Aussie rules is a whole another sport, one which I haven't quite figured out and I'm not sure I ever will.

As for Union vs League, Union used to be amateur and league professional. It wasn't rare for players to make their name playing Union, then move on to League so they can make money.
Union went professional in the 90s so that isn't as prevalent any more, though the club game in League is still bigger while the international game is bigger in Union.

Other than the old amateur/professional divide, there are major rule differences:
- Union has 15 men a side (8 forwards/7 backs), League has 13 a side (7/6).

- In Union, when a player is tackled, that player must release the ball, resulting in a ruck or a maul. In League, the tackled player restarts the action and the next "tackle" by standing upright and rolling the ball through his legs to a team-mate stood directly behind him. The opposing team must stand at least 10 metres in front of the player.
The team with the ball gets six tackles before they give up the ball (think downs in football).

- If a penalty is committed in League, the other team either gets the ball with six more tackles or can kick for points.
In Union, the penalized team must give 5 yards, and the team with the ball can either restart play, kick the ball out of bounds and gain position or kick for points.

Many League innovations such as kicking tees, sin bin, blood bin and tactical subsitutions have made their way into Union, and with professionalism in Union, and as a result, there are fewer real differences between the two codes than ever before.

[pc4th]

Originally posted by Sandon Mibut
I watched the Rugby World Cup last year and really enjoyed it.

But, I didn't understand a lot of what was going on. I figured out a lot the more I watched the tournament, but still have a very basic question or two.

What is the differenc between Rugby Union and Rugby League? Is Australian Rules Football the same as either of them or a third and different animal? And, what are these sevens that we're talking about here?

I can't answer most your question because I am too a Rugby novice but I am sure someone else will answer that question for you. However, I will give you my take on Sevens from my limited knowledge. Here is what I know thus far about Sevens:
It's Rugby but only with 7 players on each side (Rugby Union is 15). You score 5 points by a touchdown and a chance to score 2 extra points by kicking the ball through the post. You can't pass the ball forthward. You run with the ball, pass, run,,,etc, until you score or lose the ball to the opposition. The Kick-off is done at the half-way line. That is my impressions on the rules/procedures of rugby Sevens from watching it twice. My knowledge will grow this weekend thanks to FSW.

oh, one more thing: If the player is yellow carded or something like that, he has to sit out for a few minutes (I believe) because I heard the announcer said that the team will be down to 6 players. So it's like 'power play' in Hockey.

[denver_mugwamp]

Originally posted by pc4th


Anyway, what do you guys think? Could it work?


Hey, anything is possible. But any attempt to bring rugby to American stadiums will have to compete with a whole lot of other sports trying to establish themselves in the US. Everything from ourdoor lacrosse to tractor pulls. It will be an uphill fight because very few people play it and even fewer watch it. Lacrosse, for example, is a much more popular sport in the country and it's barely on the radar screen.

[skipshady]

Originally posted by pc4th
anyone seen Rugby Sevens and what do you think of it? Would it draw well if the quality is about the same as those participating in the Ruby Sevens Series? I like Sevens for the speed, but to me, it's a bit one dimensional.

As a viable spectator sport, it really depends on what you're looking for. Sevens is a good "event" sport, rather than a season long affair. I'm not sure about other countries, but Sevens matches are generally held in the form of weekend tournaments that move from city to city. It just makes more sense to have these tournaments with a bunch of teams in one place, since each game is only 20 minutes long and you can play several games a day. So in terms of logistics, it resembles NASCAR more than it does the NFL.

If you're looking to build a more traditional league, 15s or League would work better, obviously.

[striker]

Is Rugby Sevens more speedy because there are few players and thus fewer tackles?

[papa surf]

First I think its great you are talking Rugby, I will say that some other posters have told you great stuff. Sevens is to short a game for a league and to lengthen it will kill the players you are talking full field as socce basically 7v7 it is fast because of that. It is usually played as a summer fun thing and Pre Practivce warm up. The USA plays it as a Third season, to the fall/spring leagues. I wish I could talk to you because its easier to explain. SO here is what to do, PLEASE TRY THIS AT HOME.......you most likely have a team close buy. Find them through the NET tell me your area of the US and I ll find you a cliub to go and watch, it truly is amazing. Sevens for the US will start in april, you can play touch sevens. Rugby clubs WILL get you a game if you want anytime in season,The one thing abouth Rugby is ITS AN ALL incusive sport. There are so many clubs now. I will point you in the right direction. Aussie rule is on an oval pitch, GAELIC footy is as good tp play as Soccer and is a father to AUSSIE>

[papa surf]

WWW.PLANETRUGBY.COM WWW.SCRUM.COM........Rugby super League is starting, thats our MLS, we have D1 D2 and D3 college, high school and many levels of all stars in each of theses man and women. Watch the Sevens tourney this weekend on Fox and remember "Any Weather is Rugby Weather"

[DoyleG]

For a little help on figuring out the differences.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/rugby_union/default.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/rugby_league/default.stm

[kevruth]

Originally posted by pc4th
more events for SSS and thus more revenue for MLS by leasing the stadium. There is no other sports that could use SSS beside a few high school games and college soccer games. Outdoor Lacrosse is another option but I doubt SSS would specific for them in term of their attendance or lack there of. Rugby Sevens might fit the role because I believe they can draw as good as MLS if not better.

This is not a good idea. The last thing MLS needs is some other sport or event to take place on their pitches. While it might creat more revenue it won't do anything for the playing surface.

We complain now about games being played on American football fields and how the bounce/roll of the ball is inconsistant. Letting rugby tear things up would just make it more of a nightmare for groundskeepers.

Charlton used to lease out The Valley to the London Broncos rugby club. The pitch couldn't stand all of the extra wear and tear. Charlton wised up and sent the Broncos packing. They now have one of the best pitches in the Premiership.

The Home Depot Center has an awful surface. They don't care of it. When the Women's World Cup took place you could see the seams from where the sod was laid. They don't seem to want to spend money to water it. If HDC is our soccer mecca then shouldn't it be treated like one. Take good care of it and only play soccer on it. Don't let other sports ruin our playing fields.

[pc4th]

Originally posted by papa surf
WWW.PLANETRUGBY.COM WWW.SCRUM.COM........Rugby super League is starting, thats our MLS, we have D1 D2 and D3 college, high school and many levels of all stars in each of theses man and women. Watch the Sevens tourney this weekend on Fox and remember "Any Weather is Rugby Weather"

The second link doesn't work, but I google searched for Rugby Super League and found this website http://www.premier-rugby.com/template.php

Found out that the league use Rugby Union (15 men) and there are 16 teams in the league.

Anyway, what was the average attendance for the First Division Rugby in the US in 2003? What kind of stadium do they use?

[papa surf]

The stadiums are usually parks, colleges or the like I am not sure. But attendance is not in the hundreds, except the big club derbys.Rugby attracts family, friends and the like.Sorry to say it will be some time before the Brain trust wakes up to the future. The championships draw a good crowd in all divisions. USA Rugby is in need of a Paul Brown or an Art Modell. In the begining of The NFL they among many others sold tickets got TV going made everything from the ground up. I have a plan and so do others, it will happen it just takes time. Rugby is a passion unlike most, it really is. Not to sound haughty, But to give an example. I enjoy playing new sports, next up GAA Football, Irish Football that is. But in all my High Schools sports, and Mountain sports When I came to play Rugby it became the life. But now Soccer has me as well.

[papa surf]

Hey pc4th your in good graces, this saturday, in Tacoma your Local team has a match against Budd Bay 3513 East Portland ave. go to: WWW.Tacomarugby.com you will see all the links explore thier site and all there linked sites. Teams play in territories your is the Pacific Nortwest Loggers and Grizzlies I belive. That means anywhere from that region will belong to that local union. We have national unions and then The USA union{NOT A MOB FRONT} WWW.PNRFU.COM.

[papa surf]

Also anyone wanting to see Rugby League Video from Austraila go to the USA rugby league sit WWW.AMNRL.COM and look to the left and you will a Video link click it will take you to the Aussie site where you you scroll down a little and do what it says pick the Championship game and have a look . The game of league is a fast hard game, not as wide open as Union or as tactical. One or two passes and then THUMPER TIME.