World Rugby has said the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Channel and international digital terrestrial television and pay-television broadcaster CNN have signed up as new rights partners for the upcoming 2016-17 Sevens Series.
Rugby union’s global governing body said the 2016-17 Sevens Series will broadcast to more than 100 countries and territories around the world when it kicks off in Dubai on December 1.
World Rugby will also stream each round of the men’s and women’s series live, but geo-blocking may be in place in some territories due to rights agreements.
The 2016-17 Sevens Series takes place on the back of rugby sevens’ successful summer Olympic Games debut at Rio 2016. Fiji and Australia claimed men’s and women’s gold, respectively, in Rio, repeating their success in the 2015-16 Sevens Series.
World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper said: “Rugby's return to the Olympics has been a game changer, with more than 16 million new fans following our sport after the exciting and entertaining events in Rio last August.
“Next week's tournament in Dubai marks the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic cycle and building on last season, which was the most widely viewed and engaged series ever, we expect more fans from around the world to view and interact with the series.”
World Rugby was one of the launch partners for the Olympic Channel when it commenced operations in August.