Premier Rugby Sevens, the US-based pro 7s tour, will be expanding in 2022 with between four and six tournaments expected for the summer of next year.

The venues have not been finalized, but a profile of what kind of host city and venue is starting to come together. 

Owen Scannell, CEO of Premier Rugby Sevens, told GRR that while the tour's soft-opening in Memphis this past fall was a success, it was also a learning experience. 

"In scaling into 2022 we don't want to overstep," said Scannell. "But we have a plan that's scalable. Overall we achieved what we were hoping for; in some areas we missed the mark, but we're all learning."

Viewership on Fox Sports in the US and TSN in Canada pushed 500,000 viewers. The games from the October event in Memphis are now viewable on the Premier Rugby Sevens YouTube channel. Certainly they were happy with that level of interest, and Scannell said his group was also pleasantly surprised with how many non-rugby fans attended the event. Getting general sports fans to these events will be crucial to the success of the series. 

"We started small but we're investing in a plan and growing from there," said Scannell. "We have a plan to growing alongside our audience and our fan base."

Premier Rugby Sevens reported social media impressions of 5.7 million and an almost five-fold increase in website traffic during tournament day.

The opening event was also something of a proof-of-concept event for Premier Sevens to pull in more sponsors. Scannell sounded optimistic about that.

Some of the other lessons from the opening tournament centered around the athlete experience. Premier Rugby Sevens GM Mike Tolkin said that feedback from the players is prompting a shift in the turnaround time between games (players wanted longer down time), and improvements in what food is available for them and when. 

First-ever PR7s women's try in the by Kristen Thomas!

Match #3 of the Inaugural Championship (Match #1 of the Women's Tournament) is now available for full viewing on our Youtube channel here https://t.co/T9EHAtTKC5

Don't forget to like & subscribe! pic.twitter.com/FPZ1U6g7co

— Premier Rugby Sevens (@prsevens) October 26, 2021

How Will it Look in 2022?

The plan looks to be a season starting in June and running into August. Some players, especially on the women's side, may not be available for it all as the women's Rugby World Cup and the RWC 7s will both be played next year, albeit in September (the 7s) and October (the 15s women), meaning the Premier Rugby Sevens season won't directly conflict with those tournaments. But player preparation might draw some players away.

Still, what we could see would be two tournaments back-to-back in late June-early Jul, then a break, and then two more back-to-back. Then that might be it, or we might see one more championship event, or we might see two more events. It will depend on logistics, sponsorships, and deals with host cities and venues.

Where those venues might be is not public as yet, but the venue types seem pretty clear—high-quality surfaces with seating for 5,000 to 25,000 (judging from Scannell's "scalable" comment, PR7s will likely lean toward larger venues if they can). Those venues will need the amenities that produce a positive fan experience—just some bleachers and one concession stand won't do it.

The type of host city, judging from what venues they want and the fact PR7s went to Memphis in 2021, is a city of some size that doesn't necessarily have a lot of major-league sports teams in the area. There are several cities that are young, vibrant, growing metropolises that also have a solid rugby following and have the right venues, but don't have major football or baseball teams. That doesn't preclude cities with major sports teams, but the idea is that the PR7s coming to town will be a big deal, either thanks to  the thirst of sporting events that aren't the same old thing, or because there's a rugby populace in the region that will go.

As It Is ...

As it is, the PR7s offers a chance for established and up-and-coming 7s players to augment their income with a semi-professional to full-professional sevens series in the United States. It also offers a place for up-and-comers to learn and prove themselves, and it uses 7s as a gateway for sports fans that don't know rugby to learn the sport. To do all of that, PR7s clearly needs more than one event, and according to Scannell and his staff, we could see six in 2022.