If there was ever any doubt left as to how big the sport of rugby has become, that skepticism has been put to rest by rugby’s inclusion in the next Olympic Games.
Yes, on screen alongside beauty shots of Copacabana Beach will be teams of the world’s best rugby talent on the biggest stage of them all—the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
For those more inclined to watch sports where there are hard collisions and sometimes players claw, stomp, run over and elbow one another—rugby will become their favorite new Olympic sport. The fact that the USA rugby team is the reigning Olympic champion (1920) would be even more reason to tune in. The Rugby World Cup (with 3 billion viewers) is now the third largest sporting event in the world behind only soccer’s World Cup (30 billion viewers) and the Summer Olympics (4 billion).
While the sport that inspired American football will more than capture the world’s hearts in 2016, it will first be appreciated in the Valley in the form of The Fiat of Scottsdale Rugby Bowl: Spikes and Spokes on April 12 at 1:10 p.m. at WestWorld of Scottsdale.
That’s when rough-and-tumble rugby meets the rolling thunder of motorcycles. As hundreds of the hottest bikes in Arizona growl along the field, the nationally-ranked rugby team from Arizona State University will take on the #1 ranked team and defending college champions from Brigham Young University.
The sport of rugby made its debut at the 1900 Olympics in Paris. The game was invented in 1823 when a school in the English town of Rugby created a new way of playing soccer, which would eventually become rugby.
Rugby, the fastest growing collegiate sport for both men and women and a true team sport, with all players contributing and able to get an opportunity to carry the ball and score, was played at the London games in 1908, at Antwerp in 1920 and at the Paris games in 1924. The U.S. was the most successful nation in the rugby Olympic contests, winning the gold medal in 1920 and 1924. France has a gold (in 1900) and two silvers (1920, 1924).
It’s the fastest growing sport in the U.S. and in all of North America. Between 2006 and 2011, the number of high-school rugby players in the U.S. increased by 84%, with 28,000 players in 650 high school programs. Youth rugby has increased 25% over the last three years. This has meant more television exposure, as when NBC began broadcasting rugby tournaments on network television and has shown the Collegiate Rugby Championships each year since 2010.
Tickets are now on sale at TheRugbyBowl.com.
