Quote:
Originally Posted by sanarota
Should rugby be more noticed in the united states? I play rugby in college and we barely get any acknowledgment from the school. There is virtually no fans there. How does other American sports such as football and baseball shield rugby from being a huge American sport I know about USA rugby but, I have never even seen it on TV for god sake. Rugby is an awesome smash mouth sport that builds team unity and leadership skills just as good as any other sport. Why is the rest of the world so into rugby and why is America so far behind? I absolutely love this sport.
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I played rugby in college too. There are several problems. First, it's less understood than soccer and it's taken a long time for soccer to catch on. Rugby, like soccer are continuous sports so advertisers don't get to use timeouts to bombard us with sexy TV ads like they do in the big three sports. Second, it has a miniscule, insignificant fan base as compared to football, baseball, basketball. Third, it's market is college kids who are already being targeted in football, baseball, basketball. Fourth, most colleges are struggling to meet their athletic budgets. Football is usually the sport that covers most of the rest of the department's costs so university's can't afford to add another revenue sucking sport. Rugby can be played by women but usually by men which means you have a Title IX problem if it's added as a man's sport. Lastly, this is a football officiating forum so I'm not sure why you're here.