Universal Sports is about to launch it's multi-platform pay-per-view coverage of the Rugby World Cup; Goff Rugby Report spoke with Universal Sports Senior VP of Production, Dean Walker, and Scott Brown, President of Universal Sports, about the network's coverage of the tournament and its coverage of rugby in general.

Do you think you can attract sports fans to rugby through the Rugby World Cup coverage?

DW: The Rugby World Cup is one of the greatest sporting events in the world.  When you are able to present the absolute best rugby players playing in the sport’s pinnacle event, it becomes a great “hook” for sports fans.  The FIFA World Cup and Olympics are prime examples of that.  It is our job to teach rugby to the new fan, while not talking down to the hard core fans.  We believe that the power and physicality of rugby is perfect for the American sports fan; we just need to get it in front of them and we feel they will love it.

What additional production features are you bringing to the coverage?

DW: What we are bringing to the table is the massive depth of rugby knowledge to the American audience.  Brian Hightower, former USA Eagles player and USA Sevens Captain, will be the primary match analyst for the Rugby World Cup.  Bill Seward will be handling all play-by-play duties and is recognized throughout the world as the American voice of rugby.  Additionally, we will be bringing in Fijian rugby legend Waisale Serevi, along with former USA Eagles captain Dan Lyle for in-depth analysis during the knock-out round.

Will we see any non-event coverage?

DW: Leading up to the Rugby World Cup, we have produced an animated series called “Rugby Essentials” that teaches the game of rugby in a fun and irreverent way.  We have also produced a series of features in conjunction with VisitBritain that highlight the different venues around Britain that the Rugby World Cup will be held.  Host Nick Gismondi travels the British countryside with the “fastest man in rugby” Carlin Isles to learn more about the land in which rugby was born.

What's the feeling about the business model? - PPV for most games but also some not PPV. What goals does Universal have for the response?

SB: A mix of linear matches and PPV is appropriate for where the profile of the sport is currently within the U.S. market. If you look back to where soccer was a number of years ago it followed a similar trajectory. You couldn’t find every FIFA World Cup match on air for free, and now the event has evolved to a place where ESPN showed every match last year from Brazil. But it took a while to build to that point and that is what we are trying to do. By showing all of the national team’s matches, opening match, semi’s and finals, we are giving a good sample to a nationwide audience while still allowing a deeper dive through PPV for those who want to watch everything.

Was it difficult to get the PPV systems set up all over the country? You've got a lot of cable companies to deal with.

SB: 2011 was very challenging because it was the first time that anyone had delivered the Rugby World Cup in the United States and that required a lot of effort. In 2015, we are building on our efforts from 2011. We already had relationships with the PPV operators by virtue of those efforts, so we were able to activate more quickly and have a smoother process. Affiliates are also more aware this year since it is the second time the event has aired on American television. Not as much education was required as compared to 2011, so awareness of rugby and Rugby World Cup is definitely growing.

How big is rugby for Universal Sports?

SB: As you know, rugby is the fastest growing team sport in the U.S., and even with that there remains a tremendous upside for the sport in the U.S. for our network. Football, our “favorite” sport in this country, is derived from rugby and there are a lot of common elements between the two sports. Once people sit down and watch a match they are going to see a lot of similarities that are appealing to the American sports fans. All of this is reinforced by the reintroduction of rugby to the Olympics with 7s being added to the program in 2016. Even though it is 7s instead of 15s in the Olympics, it’s still going to raise awareness for rugby across the board. It’s big and getting bigger!