School Daze: NBC To Broadcast Rugby 7's College Championship

By John Ourand, Staff Writer

NBC has agreed to broadcast the first Rugby 7's collegiate championship June 5-6, marking what NBC believes is the first time college rugby games have appeared on broadcast television. The round-robin tournament will be held at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, and feature 16 teams, including Notre Dame, Ohio State, Florida, Cal, Harvard and Yale. NBC will broadcast the games in the 4:30-6:00pm ET time slot on both Saturday and Sunday, while Universal Sports will air coverage from 2:00-4:30pm both days.  NBC Sports Exec VP Jon Miller said, "Rugby Sevens is an exciting, fast-paced sport that is growing in global popularity, participation and interest. USA Sevens is the ideal partner for this event, which features the best collegiate rugby teams in the country." Rugby 7’s will make its Olympic debut at the ‘16 Rio de Janeiro Games.