Recent Team USA rugby match illustrates sport’s potential leading up to World Cup, Olympics

The GIST: Last Friday, 10.5K fans showed up at Kansas City’s CPKC Stadium to watch the USA Rugby women’s 15s take on Team Canada. While the bout resulted in a loss for the Americans, the game set a new U.S. attendance record for the sport fueled by its recent surge in popularity.

• With American fans finally joining the scrum, marketers should stay tuned in to major tentpole events like the upcoming 2028 Olympics and the 2033 Rugby World Cup. Front and center.

The Olympics: While global interest in women’s rugby is rising, Paris 2024 was a turning point for its U.S. contingent, giving the country’s national team a bigger spotlight than ever. Plus, the tournament was met with intense fan excitement across the board: The first day of women’s sevens events in Paris fielded a record 67K crowd, followed by 69K for the quarter-finals.

• The sport is also getting wider cross-channel exposure thanks to American rugby and TikTok star Ilona Maher, who facilitated unprecedented growth by winning over social media followers. She brought those fans with her when she began her three-month stint with UK’s Bristol Bears, which led to record ticket interest and attendance.

Women’s Elite Rugby (WER): Following the Olympics, the first U.S. pro women’s rugby league launched this spring and sits atop the U.S. professional rugby pyramid. Founded by former executives of the previous Women’s Premier League (WPL), the league anticipated the sport’s popularity and is hoping to capitalize on it through the new league.

• With WER building towards a Series A funding round, it’s been bolstered by partners like Pinto Capital LLC, Ida Sports, and DAZN, which is offering live (and free) global coverage as the exclusive channel for the league.

Zooming out: Maher is certainly a star in the sport, landing big-ticket sponsorships with Adidas and several beauty brands. But she’s not the only draw: Rugby interest overall is growing, and the national team’s attendance record and WER’s launch proves there’s interest in the game here and abroad.

• U.S. marketers are missing out if they’re not considering rugby right now, especially leading into international tournaments like the World Cup in the UK this summer. And when brands do activate around the game, they should focus on an in-arena presence and social media campaigns — that’s where rugby’s newest fans are showing up. Might as well try.