U.S. rugby enthusiasts and businesses hoping to grow the sport are celebrating a big milestone today: The American men’s and women’s teams have qualified for the Rio Games, assuring a domestic selling point for the first Olympic rugby competition in 92 years. Both squads defeated Canada in the finals of the North America Caribbean Rugby Association tournament yesterday, giving USA Rugby, NBC Sports and sponsors more than a year to market the sport leading into Rio. Had they lost, the Americans would have had to wait until just weeks before the Games before getting another chance to qualify. "It is a very important day for the USA Eagles, our company UWS and rugby in America,” said United World Sports President Jonathan First, whose N.Y.-based firm owns the rights to several domestic rugby events in a joint venture with NBC. NBC will not make programming decisions for Rio until early next year, but U.S. participation makes it far more likely that the rugby competition will be prominently featured.
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