World Rugby revealed the new-look for men’s and women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series that includes at least six combined events, as the women’s series increases to eight rounds for the first time in its history over the next four-year cycle from 2019-23.
Men’s world series to remain at 10 rounds
It is the first time to expand the women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series into Eight rounds.
Men’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2019-23 host Venues.
Nine out of 10 host locations for the next four-year cycle of the men’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2019-23 have also been confirmed.
Nine existing men’s world series destinations – Dubai, Cape Town, Hamilton, Sydney, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, and Paris – are set to feature again as part of the next four-year cycle, with the host location in the USA to be confirmed at a later stage in the season.
Hamilton, the newest venue on the men’s series having hosted its First event in 2018, becomes a new combined event for both men’s and women’s teams. Sydney and Vancouver, both newest venues to the men’s series calendar having been appointed in 2015, also retain their host venue status, with Sydney continuing as a combined event.
Women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2019-23 host Locations.
Dubai, Cape Town, New Zealand, Sydney, Hong Kong and Paris will host combined men’s and women’s sevens events from next season onwards as part of the next four-year world series hosting cycle.
In the women’s series, the USA Women’s Sevens will again be hosted in Glendale, Colorado, with Langford, British Columbia, also remaining as a standalone event next season.
Combined men's, women's host cities for World Rugby Sevens Series
London and Paris are also confirmed as the European hosts for the next four years with Paris set to again host both men’s and women’s series from next season onwards.
Dubai, Cape Town, New Zealand, Sydney, Hong Kong, and Paris will host combined men’s and women’s sevens events from 2019 to 2023.
Rugby sevens continue to grow, engage and attract global audiences. In 2018, the world series saw record-breaking fan engagement figures with an increase of 60% across video views when compared with 2017 and attracted more than 749,800 attendees to events globally.
The growth trend continued in broadcast viewing figures with Nielsen research recording a 39 per cent increase in live broadcast audiences across both men’s and women’s series, from nine million in 2017 to 12.6 million viewers in 2018.
Next season’s series will be vital as qualified core men’s and women’s teams prepare to compete not only on the world series but also at the Olympic Games which takes place from 27 July-1 August at Tokyo Stadium.
With the newly-expanded women’s series, qualified teams will have more high quality, competitive playing opportunities than ever before as they prepare to participate at Tokyo 2020.
The full men’s and women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2019-20 schedule and dates will be confirmed at a later stage in 2019.
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