Louis Rees-Zammit’s switch to NFL can springboard rugby’s growth in US ahead of 2031 World Cup, says World Rugby CEO
LOUIS Rees-Zammit stunned the rugby world when he announced he would be quitting the sport to chase his NFL dream.
But the former Wales wing has now been tipped to play a major role in increasing interest in rugby union in the United States in the build-up to the 2031 Rugby World Cup.
World Rugby has made a bold move to expand the sport’s presence in the key international market with the awarding of the 2031 men’s Rugby World Cup and women’s event two years later to the US.
It will be no easy feat in an extremely competitive and crowded sports landscape.
And efforts to bring new fans and sponsors to the sport have not been helped by the failure of the US men’s team to qualify for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
With Major League Rugby still finding its feet and the USA Eagles struggling to capture hearts and minds, World Rugby believes Rees-Zammit can help shine a brighter light on the sport Stateside.
The Kansas City Chiefs running back has been given a huge profile as a member of the most successful team in the most popular sport in the country.
And there is eager anticipation about how he will fare in his rookie season, with the likes of Chiefs teammates Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce taking up his potential.
In turn, many sports fans are learning more about Rees-Zammit’s background and the sport that has made him a star.
“I think it’s fantastic to see someone like Louis Rees-Zammit not only bringing his athletic talent to a new sport but into the biggest shop window you can have as an athlete,” World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin told The U.S. Sun.
“This [brings] conversations about rugby in markets like this which is important.
“Rees-Zammit is an important part of that story, he’s an incredibly talented athlete.
“His success here will be a good story for rugby.”
World Rugby achieved an important milestone in the build-up to the 2031 Rugby World Cup by staging a host cities summit in Washington DC.
The event coincided with the Test match between USA Eagles and Scotland at Audi Field on July 12.
Prospective host cities receive briefing on the hosting process of the 2031 and 2033 Rugby World Cups, including the economic benefits and opportunities.
Cities in attendance that expressed an interest in hosting included Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and New York.
The US Department of State was also in attendance to discuss host country logistics such as visas, safety and security and transport.
“It’s been two years since we awarded the Rugby World Cups in 2031 and 2033 and that two years has been a lot of planning and foundational work,” Gilpin added.
“[This event] was an important time to re-engage with those cities, state sports commissions and tourism authorities in different parts of the country and getting them more excited than they already were about the opportunity…
“The scale of men’s and women’s World Cups, talking through outcomes in France and Japan and what it might mean for them to be involved.”
The men’s Rugby World Cup is expanding to 24 teams for the 2027 edition in Australia.
World Rugby is in the process of examining how best to stage the group stage for 2031, including potentially regionalizing pools.
The governing body is also looking into how many cities to award games to, with the likelihood of around 13-14 cities.
It is hoped the host cities will be announced before the start of the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
“We’re traditionally in 10 or 11 for a men’s World Cup but again we’re expanding to 24 teams but it probably lends itself in a huge geography and market like the US to slightly more venues for the men’s edition,” Gilpin added.
“But nothing is setting in stone on that. It will be about the right mix of venues in terms of size, the right geographies and finding the right facilities that have team camps and bases available.
“We’re going to need 60-plus team bases for a 24-team tournament so there’s a lot to do in that regard.
Louis Rees-Zammit’s success here will be a good story for rugby
World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin
“There will be some unbelievable destinations for sports fans, whether it’s Vegas or Miami and more traditional destinations such as LA, New York and Dallas.
“There’s a lot of excitement and there’s a lot of work to do.”
World Rugby is seeking a mixture of stadiums, ranging from MLS venues to potentially expansive NFL or college football stadiums.
“It’s going to be finding that mix,” Gilpin said.
“We were just over 50,000 per match average in France across the whole tournament and I think we’ll be somewhere similar to that for 2031.”
Due to scheduling issues with the American football season, World Rugby is now examining when best to stage the Rugby World Cup to ensure access to the showpiece facilities.
“We’re working on the assumption that the Rugby World Cup in 2031 will be a version of its traditional window which is September/October,” Gilpin said.
“There is obviously some flex in that – in Australia in the next edition I think we’re two weeks earlier as a start than we were in France.
“There is a bit of movement within our traditional window and we have some work to do with the college football and NFL environment in terms of how that can work best in 2031.
“That will definitely play a part in venue selection and the engagement of cities and venue owners.”
World Rugby is tentatively looking at staging some games in Canada, which has a long history of success in the sport.
But at this stage, both the 2031 and 2023 tournaments are being planned to be held exclusively in the United States.
“We’ve had conversations with Rugby Canada and with USA Rugby about Canada,” Gilpin said.
“There are definitely conversations to be had but our starting point is these are both US-hosted tournaments and can we work out if Canada can bring something different to that and what will the benefits and challenges be?
“It’s not something that we’ve discounted but the starting assumption is that it’s a US tournament.”
To help build momentum and excitement for the 2031 Rugby World Cup, a number of key international and club games could be brought to the States in the coming years.
“We want to make sure we are building the audience and the excitement for as long as possible to ensure that the success not only lasts the six weeks in the case of the men’s World Cup but in the years that follow and continues to grow a really thriving sport,” Gilpin said.
“We want to go from a relative period of uncertainty of home fixtures for the [US] men’s and women’s teams to knowing that they have five or six home games, and having that scheduling a long way in advance, really promoting it and making sure you’re taking those games to the right markets.
“We’ve talked to league and club stakeholders about becoming part of that plan, bringing their great content into that journey.
“Whether that’s bringing marquee club matches here in the way that soccer has done really successfully, or bringing parts of the regular tournaments here.
“Can we bring part of the URC [Ultimate Rugby Championship’] here? Can we bring EPCR [European Rugby Champions Cup] matches in the future here?
“But being thoughtful about when the right times in the journey for that are.”
Gilpin added that games will be staged at times suited to ensure packed stadiums rather than for international broadcast windows.
“We’ve always taken the view with Rugby World Cups that we’ve got to make sure the matches are full, vibrant and brilliant in the domestic market,” he said.
With rugby sevens being held at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, these are truly exciting times for the sport in the United States.
And World Rugby is eager to capitalize on the opportunities ahead to make the sport even bigger globally.
“It’s massive for rugby. In all the work we’ve done over the past two or three years on a strategic plan to grow the game of rugby globally… there is no doubt that the two biggest addressable opportunities for growth are the US and the women’s game,” Gilpin said.
“And that is fascinating when we are seeing the trajectory of women’s sport in the US.
“Those two growth opportunities are coming together and that is why we’ve given ourselves these runways to pinnacle events and use the moments of World Cups to drive interest but actually it’s about everything that sits around it.
“If we can make rugby a more mainstream sport in the US from a participation perspective, for audiences, for commercial rights that will have a massive impact on the game globally.”