HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series set for record broadcast coverage

The 2015-16 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series is set to reach more fans than any previous series, World Rugby has announced

Both the men's and women's series kick off in Dubai this week and with the men's series visiting 10 iconic locations around the world and both the men's and women's series now welcoming two global partners HSBC and DHL, the stage is set for sevens to inspire in a game-changing Olympic season.

With RDA and Lagardere Sports, World Rugby’s broadcast distribution partner, the new series is expected to increase on last season's record numbers, which included 5,884 hours of airtime to an estimated 400 million homes in 144 nations in 12 different languages.

In addition to the live output, World Rugby's official sevens highlights programme is set to air on some new free-to-air broadcasters, ITV4 showing highlights in the UK for the first time with deals pending in further territories.

Following on from the recording-breaking success of Rugby World Cup's digital platforms, World Rugby will again complement its traditional broadcast offering with online highlights and feature content in a dedicated 'video hub', bringing fans around the world closer to the players and to the action than ever before, and giving them the chance to tailor their own action sequences.

With increased exposure on the road to Rio 2016, broadcast media are also able to access Video News Release (VNR) footage for online news use, at the end of each day from both the men's and women's events, while the Gillette World of Sport magazine programme will now feature sevens content in 200 markets, in addition to World Rugby's own weekly flagship, World Rugby TV providing coverage.    

Author: 
WorldRugby