World Rugby aims to intensify American interest in the 2031 Rugby World Cup, and to do so, plans to bring the final series of the Nations Championship to New York City in 2030.
Brett Robinson, World Rugby chairman, revealed this strategy in Sydney, where he announced the broadcast partnership with Nine Entertainment Co. for the next three World Cups.
The big goal of 2031
The 2031 men’s event is crucial for World Rugby, which seeks to enter the lucrative US market, but is also aware of the challenges this entails.
This includes improving the performance of the men’s national team, possibly with the inclusion of a team in Super Rugby Pacific, and making the sport known to the general American public, who are still unaware of the magnitude of rugby worldwide.
The celebration of the Nations Championship final series, which will begin in 2026, would bring high-level rugby to one of the country’s most emblematic cities, showing Americans what they can expect when 24 nations compete in the United States a year later.
“From my perspective, it’s about securing a commitment with the United States. I just returned from Los Angeles, from a meeting with the United States Federation, and next week we will present to the council a reaffirmation of our commitment to the 31 and 33 (Women’s World Cup), and how will we do it with the unions?” said Robinson when asked about the main topics of the next World Rugby council meeting.
Brett Robinson
“How do we align the major nations to get the product into the United States before the 31st? How do we ensure that the All Blacks’ test match in Chicago (against Ireland) later this year is not just a one-off event, but that we build an event program with all the major unions to raise the profile?
“How do we work on a final series of the 2030 Nations Championship in New York, where we will host the final?
Those are the conversations we need to have with the main unions in the next six months to consolidate our direction.
Possible venues in New York
World Rugby has several options for venues in New York.
- The MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, home to the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets, with a capacity of 82,500 people.
- The grass field of the Major League Soccer team, New York Red Bulls, although this stadium, also in New Jersey, has a capacity of 25,000 spectators.
World Rugby has yet to finalize where the first final series of the Nations Championship will be played.
