WHY IS RUGBY NOT POPULAR IN THE U.S.

[Army of GOD]

discuss

greatest sport or THE greatest sport?

[GreecePwns]

I got a taste of the last Six Nations and World Cup and found it fun to watch. Then a friend of mine gave me some Xbox rugby game called Rugby Challenge and now that I know how the game actually works I like it even more (plus, the video game is fun to play). Then I watched some 7s thing on TV, and hated that very much.

I'm surprised there isn't some sort of professional league here, I think Americans would love the sport. I always hear sports fans here saying the same thing.

[Army of GOD]

I got a taste of the last Six Nations and World Cup and found it fun to watch. Then a friend of mine gave me some Xbox rugby game called Rugby Challenge and now that I know how the game actually works I like it even more (plus, the video game is fun to play). Then I watched some 7s thing on TV, and hated that very much.

I'm surprised there isn't some sort of professional league here, I think Americans would love the sport. I always hear sports fans here saying the same thing.

Why'd you hate 7s?

[Serbia]

Why'd you hate 7s?

Because SHUT UP

[GreecePwns]

It seemed like the whole thing boiled down to "whoever is faster, wins." I only watched it once, so I don't know if that's necessarily true.

[Army of GOD]

It seemed like the whole thing boiled down to "whoever is faster, wins." I only watched it once, so I don't know if that's necessarily true.

I guess that's true, but in the same sense that the faster player in football wins, or whatever. I like 7s more just because there's more open space.

[DoomYoshi]

Rugby is the most popular American sport. Except it's called football.

[Army of GOD]

wat 

[betiko]

Rugby is the most popular American sport. Except it's called football.

lol. yeah i guess what you americans call football is highly inspired by rugby. since "football" is your most popular sport you forgot about it's ancestor and it's differences. rugby is the second most popular sport in france after football (the real one, where you actually play with your feet).

[crazymilkshake5]

WHY IS RUGBY NOT POPULAR IN THE U.S.

Because its not an american sport, plain and simple.

[Army of GOD]

Rugby is the most popular American sport. Except it's called football.

lol. yeah i guess what you americans call football is highly inspired by rugby. since "football" is your most popular sport you forgot about it's ancestor and it's differences. rugby is the second most popular sport in france after football (the real one, where you actually play with your feet).

I want to get one of the France rugby warmup jackets. They look sick.

WHY IS RUGBY NOT POPULAR IN THE U.S.

Because its not an american sport, plain and simple.

meh, this is probably true.

[mviola]

WHY IS RUGBY NOT POPULAR IN THE U.S.

Because its not an american sport, plain and simple.

'MERICA!

[Army of GOD]

WHY IS RUGBY NOT POPULAR IN THE U.S.

Because its not an american sport, plain and simple.

'MERICA!

Also, my rugby team thinks the reason NCAA doesn't sponsor rugby is because they don't want it overshadowing football

Dicks

[DoomYoshi]

This is like asking: why don't hexapods live in the ocean?

It's because they evolved from crustaceans, which already live in the ocean.

It would be pointless for the evolved game to occupy the same ecological niche as the ancestral game. Yes, there are differences, but differences don't matter when you are talking about evolutionary trees.

[chang50]

Rugby is the most popular American sport. Except it's called football.

Except its very little like American football.The existing big sports in the us will never let other sports flourish,'cos it will mean less revenue for them..

[Frito Bandito]

I love 7's, plenty of action, short game length.

[Mr_Adams]

Rugby is the most popular American sport. Except it's called football.

Except its very little like American football.The existing big sports in the us will never let other sports flourish,'cos it will mean less revenue for them..

Seriously. otherwise, the whole world would be in to Fencing. but it's been held down by the TEAM SPORT genre. bastards.

[KoolBak]

The hifg schools around here all have rugby teams, just like football, basketball, underwater BB stacking, etc.....a buddy's kid just got a full ride scholarship to college playing rugby (he wasn't tough enough to play football with the giant corn fed hulks.....lol).

[everywhere116]

I watched a 3-hour Rugby 7s tournament hosted in the US. I actually enjoyed it.

[Army of GOD]

I wonder how important the success of the national team in the world cup is to the popularity of the sport in the country.

Like, in soccer, both the men's and women's teams did well enough to garner attention (men's left the group stage in the WC, women's lost in the championship). The American rugby team is pretty shitty, so that might be why.

[keiths31]

Rugby is the most popular American sport. Except it's called football.

Except its very little like American football.The existing big sports in the us will never let other sports flourish,'cos it will mean less revenue for them..

Well that doesn't make any sense. It is a free market in North America when it comes to sports. With all the cable channels available there is no shortage of rugby, soccer, cricket, etc for North Americans to watch. We just don't like them, not because the NFL, NHL, MLB or NBA won't let in the other sports, but because there is no mass audience for it.

[GreecePwns]

Seriously, if the big sports were cooperating to keep the other sports down, they wouldn't be doing a good job of it, considering most NFL/MLB/NBA/NHL owners own more than 1 sports team (AEG has its paws on pretty much every sport, for example).

[Mr_Adams]

I wonder how important the success of the national team in the world cup is to the popularity of the sport in the country.

Since it's my favorite, I'll use fencing as a counter example to this concept. The US consistantly puts out excellent fencers. The US hasn't given any special attention. EG, '08 Lady's singles sabre.

[Symmetry]

I wonder how important the success of the national team in the world cup is to the popularity of the sport in the country.

Since it's my favorite, I'll use fencing as a counter example to this concept. The US consistantly puts out excellent fencers. The US hasn't given any special attention. EG, '08 Lady's singles sabre.

Fencing is kind of a niche sport though. Apart from the fact that it requires individual coaching, rather than team coaching, the equipment isn't cheap. For the record, I like fencing too, but it takes a fair amount of time, effort and cost to train a fencer to a good standard. Plus, audiences aren't all that likely to appreciate a good fencer without a lot of experience with the sport. When I first started watching boxing, for example, it just looked like two guys swinging wildly at each other.

[GreecePwns]

In terms of team sports, however, this is true. Since '98 MLS has always gotten a ratings and attendance bump after the World Cup, even more so after the US beat Mexico to reach the quarterfinal (and Germany, but a missed handball call on Frings prevented that )