World Rugby Announces Sevens Broadcast Deal
World Rugby has announced broadcast deals with American pay-TV channel CNN and the Olympic Channel.
Both will air the upcoming HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, which gets underway in Dubai from 1st December.
The annual series is a seven-a-side variant of rugby union and was played for the first time at an Olympics this year in Rio. Fiji picked up gold, Team GB won silver and South Africa claimed bronze in the men’s tournament.
Brett Gosper, World Rugby, chief executive said: “Rugby’s return to the Olympics has been a game changer, with more than 16 million new fans following our sport after the exciting and entertaining events in Rio last August.
“Next week’s tournament in Dubai marks the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic cycle and building on last season, which was the most widely viewed and engaged series ever, we expect more fans from around the world to view and interact with the series.”
The Olympic Channel was launched following the closing ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, with the aim of providing a new way to engage young people, fans and new audiences, presenting original programming, live sports events, news and highlights offering additional exposure for sports and athletes all year round.
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