Major changes have been made to the schedule of games to be played in the USA 7s in Las Vegas that kicks off on Sunday morning.

This means the biggest ever American audience will watch 7s rugby live on TV in the US for the first time ever.

All four Cup quarter finals will be played at the end of day one, allowing the Cup final in Las Vegas to be broadcast live on NBC on Monday.

Most of the IRB 7s tournaments, excluding the Hong Kong 7s, have a team playing three pool games on the first day and the Cup quarters, semis and final on the second day.

However this has been altered from the norm to maximize the exposure afforded by the USA event's first ever live national network TV broadcast coverage, on NBC.

Jon Miller, Executive Vice President of NBC Sports, which will also broadcast Rugby World Cup later this year for the first time, said they are very excited about the opportunity to showcase, live to the American public, the thrilling action of Sevens Rugby.

He said the sport is incredibly popular internationally and they look forward to continuing their partnership with USA Sevens and the IRB to grow Rugby in the US.

USA Sevens Tournament Director Dan Lyle said four years ago, USA Sevens set out to attain mainstream legitimacy and exposure in the context of American sport, and this exciting new partnership with NBC reflects the hard work achieved to realize this opportunity.

This also shows that the US means business with 7s rugby included in the 2016 Olympics.
 
In addition to the four Cup quarter final ties being played at the end of a lengthened day one, the four trophy finals are also rearranged at the end of day two.

In order for the Cup final to coincide with prime time across the east coast of America, the showpiece match will be played before the Shield, Bowl and Plate finals.

IRB Chief Executive, Mike Miller said this unprecedented platform means that they have the opportunity to attract millions of people who wouldn't normally see the sport through an internationally renowned sports broadcaster.

He said the IRB is sure that when they see it on NBC, Americans will be hooked on the highly competitive, fast paced nature of Rugby Sevens.

The Digicel Fiji 7s team plays Canada in its first pool match at 7.52am Sunday, then Scotland at 12.07pm and Australia at 2.41pm.

The Cup quarter finals start at 5pm Sunday.


Story by: Vijay Narayan