Rugby sevens in Southern and East Africa gains momentum in recent years

Thursday, October 11, 2018

In the recent years, Rugby sevens in Southern and East Africa has gained much-deserved momentum, and it is attracting more and more spectators, many of whom are international tourists.

 
According to Judy Lain, Wesgro’s Chief Marketing Officer, Rugby sevens has gained popularity over the recent years, pulling in large crowds.

 
Coralie van den Berg, the General Manager of World Rugby African Association, Rugby Africa, explains that more and more tournaments are being developed by unions, especially in Southern and Easy Africa in partnership with sponsors and broadcasters and these are contributing to increased popularity of the game.

 
Van den Berg said that the Cape Town Sevens, which is part of the World Series, sells out in a couple of hours, attracting huge crowds, with smaller events across Africa attracting various crowd sizes.

 
The size of the crowd depends on how well the event is promoted and commercialized, according to Van den Berg. “Typically in Southern Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe have the biggest fan base for sevens.”

 
As for Uganda, Van den Berg said that recently a sevens tournament between the Uganda Cranes and the French Military attracted over 10 000.

 
Van den Berg added that a number of new sevens events have been launched in recent years in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Lesotho, and all of them have been successful.
In December last year, Cape Town hosted the South African leg of the HSBC Rugby Sevens World Series, which fed millions of Rands into Cape Town’s economy.

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