World Arena Rugby Returns!
Fifteen years after the initial offering in Dallas, Texas, World Arena Rugby (WAR) returns for an August 16-17, 2013 tournament at the Allen Event Center in Allen, TX outside of Dallas. Featuring a 7s-variant rugby union game with alterations to pitch size, substitutions, and match length, WAR promises rugby’s action as indoor entertainment on a hot summer day. Affordable tickets, affordable refreshments, and an exciting outing with friends and family. Additionally, this one-time, kick-off tournament precedes an expansive WAR league season planned for the Summer of 2014.
In an interview with Mark Savoy, CEO of Zuma Beach Entertainment, the managing company of World Arena Rugby, he stated that now “is a euphoric time for WAR to be re-introduced to the public as a great brand of entertainment.” When asked what is the difference between 1998 and 2013, Savoy immediately pointed out the obstacles that faced this venture in 1998 - limited broadcast avenues, one large arena in every major city, and lack of knowledge about rugby in general. In 2004, the concept was tried again, but the advertisers still did not realize the value of rugby enough to sustain WAR.
This year is different for many reasons. Plenty of affordable and profitable broadcast outlets exist from the various sports networks to internet live-streaming sites. Most major cities possess more than one arena or event center and a large number of those are the mid-sized, 5,000-8,000 capacity venues that are less expensive to rent out and that create an intimate environment while maintaining affordable ticket prices. Finally, rugby has now returned to the Olympics. While Olympic rugby fever has yet to infect the USA in epidemic proportions, Savoy is certain that it will soon and already has some advertisers at the door ready to back him.
Why indoor arena rugby? From a marketing standpoint, the American sports fan’s experience with rugby has been limited and Savoy does not see the need to limit the sports fans further by keeping them far from the action. Playing arena rugby indoors will bring the fan closer to the game, make the game easier to follow, and make for more physical and more exciting play. The intimate experience combined with exhilarating action also make WAR’s version of the game perfect for broadcasting.
This year’s tournament, the 2013 World Arena Rugby 7s Championships, will invite 16 teams to compete in Allen, TX for a $50,000 purse to be doled out to the top seven teams of the tournament. Teams can register to be invited at www.worldarenarugby.com by clicking on the link that reads “GET YOUR ENTRY PACKAGE TODAY >” and completing the Registration Form that pops up. Additionally, the top three teams at the tournament will be awarded the opportunity to compete in the inaugural 2014 WAR league season. The tournament format includes pool play all day on Friday with quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a final on Saturday. Additionally, the tournament games consist of four 7-minute periods (Regular season matches are four 15-minute periods) and 12-player rosters with unlimited substitutions.
The tournament will take place at the Allen Event Center, a new venue with a capacity of approximately 7,500, dependent upon the event. Savoy expects that Friday’s pool play will see at least half of the facility filled during the day and to be near-capacity during the night matches. Saturday’s matches should be well-attended, according to Savoy and he expects the Final to have the Allen Event Center at capacity. WAR retained Ticketmaster to manage ticket sales starting the first week of July 2013
“The City of Allen is the most incredible group of people.” states the Zuma Beach CEO “They’ve bent over backwards to accomodate us.” Allen is certainly a sports-centric enough location to support WAR. The Event Center hosts hockey team, indoor soccer, indoor football, a rodeo circuit stop, and the Lone Star Conference collegiate basketball championships. Allen’s residents do not mind spending money on sports, as evidenced by the $60 million, 22,000-capacity high school football stadium that opened there in 2012. With regard to the most important aspect of business - location, location, location - WAR seems to have made a solid partnership with the City of Allen.
WAR plans a 2014 regular season from June to September featuring eight city-based teams that will play 12 games each toward a post-season that includes a semi-finals weekend building up to a Cup Final. The league will retain managerial control and ownership of the teams for the initial season. Savoy states that they do plan to bring in team owners to emerging markets as the league grows. WAR plans to grow to 24 teams by the 2016 season.
Savoy expects to find more than half of the 100-150 athletes that WAR needs for the 2014 season at the WAR 7s Championship tournament. However he adds that for the regular season “any athlete that is qualified can play on these teams. We are not stuck on rugby players, solely.” WAR will be based only in the US, but Savoy is not averse to bringing in rugby players from around the world or non-rugby “crossover” athletes from other sports to enhance the league and the quality of the product.
WAR may certainly rile the rugby purists who seek to protect the spirit of the game. However,WAR does not pretend to be an upstart to USA Rugby or the IRB. It is a sports entertainment niche that has not been tapped, yet. Nothing more, nothing less. Savoy counters his detractors by stating, “What we do is good for rugby. If we can introduce 1000s of people to the game, we have helped rugby in the United States.” Considering that the vast majority of the fans setting an international test match attendance record at the USA v Ireland match in Houston were either rugby players and their families or expatriates (Irish or otherwise), introducing rugby to America in an entertaining format that engages the average sports fan may just be what we need.
