Home is where the ruck is, as S’pore Rugby 7s aims to stay at Sports Hub

SINGAPORE – The HSBC Singapore Rugby 7s, one of the nation’s marquee sporting events, is aiming to make the S$1.33 billion Sports Hub its home till 2023.

With the event’s four-year contract to run out after 2019, the Singapore Rugby Union (SRU) has submitted a bid to World Rugby – the sport’s world governing body – to host a leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series here from 2020 to 2023. The Sports Hub has hosted the Singapore leg of the series since 2016, with this year’s edition to be held on April 28 and 29.

In a first for Singapore, the 55,000-seater National Stadium could also host a leg of the HSBC Women’s Sevens Series from 2020, as SRU made a combined bid for both the men’s and women’s Sevens Series.

If the bid is successful, rugby fans here could see the Singapore women’s sevens team in action against the world’s best, as there is possibility for the host nation to fill the 12th team spot.

The competition will also kick off a day earlier on Friday, as the current two-day format will also be expanded to three to accommodate the women’s matches.

“I am very happy and very proud to submit a combined bid like this,” Mr David Lim, chairman of Rugby Singapore, the commercial and events arm of the SRU, told TODAY.

“It felt like the right timing. We looked at the numbers, the plan, and what we wanted as Singapore rugby, and the SRU, in terms of development of the sport.”

He noted that Singapore has done well in sevens, with the men’s and women’s teams winning silver medals at the SEA Games last year.

“At the back of the current success of the national teams, we felt it would be the right move,” he said.

TODAY understands that 19 cities submitted bids for the World Rugby Sevens Series from 2020 to 2023, which is expected to travel to 10 locations – or more – for the tournament’s next four-year cycle.

All 10 of the current host cities – Dubai, Cape Town, Sydney, Hamilton (New Zealand), Las Vegas, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, and Paris – have logged their interest, with other cities such as Suva (Fiji) and Munich also in the running.

The winning bids will be announced in June this year.

Currently in its 19th edition, the annual World Sevens Series from December to June sees participation from the top 16 teams from around the world, including rugby powerhouses South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

The Women’s Sevens Series, which started in 2012, is hosting five tournament events for 12 teams for the 2017-2018 season in Dubai, Sydney, Kitakyushu (Japan), Langford (Canada), and Paris.

Mr Lim told TODAY that he is confident of securing the rights to the HSBC Singapore Rugby 7s for another four years.

“It’s a very competitive market…we know what we want to achieve and we’ve demonstrated our ability in the first two years,” said the 47-year-old marketing consultant.

“My team and I are upbeat and confident,” he added, pointing to the support of government agencies such as Singapore Tourism Board and Sport Singapore and having “an amazing facility” in the Sports Hub.

“All the elements are in place to take this to the next level and build this product into what I hope will become the cornerstone of the sports calendar in Singapore.”

Local rugby fan Mark Koh, 35, has been a loyal supporter of the event since 2016, and he was happy to hear that the Singapore Sevens could be back for the longer term. He said: It's got a very nice, sociable atmosphere that's different from other countries. Personally, I would like to see more food and drinks vendors during the event, especially the mobile ones. 

"We don't sell out like in Hong Kong (Sevens)...we've got a big stadium, and it'll be great if we can fill it up."

RAKING IN BIG BUCKS?

While there have been inevitable comparisons with its richer and more glamourous cousin, the Hong Kong Sevens, Mr Lim believes the Singapore Sevens has its own unique proposition for rugby fans.

In order to differentiate itself from the other events on the tour, he added that the Singapore Sevens has positioned itself as a weekend lifestyle and entertainment event for families.

This year’s event on April 28 and 29 will include the Singapore Rugby Carnival, which will have three fun zones for fans of all ages: the Sports Zone with activities across different sports, the Kids Zone with fun and entertainment for children, and the World Zone which will have boast a variety of food options and drinks.

A family fast track lane will be introduced at the stadium’s entrances for the first time this year, and other services such as a child drop-off zone, breastfeeding areas and nappy changing rooms will be provided.

Mr Lim added: “If you look at the Hong Kong Sevens, it has over 40 years of history but we don’t want to copy, paste and follow that.

“Hong Kong shows us what the potential of the sport is...it is a commercially successful event to drive the development of the sport, building up to club, and then national level. The road map is there.”

According to previous media reports, the annual event costs between S$6 million and S$7 million to stage – with costs going up by 20 per cent if the women’s event is staged from 2020 – and the SRU receives Government funding of between S$750,000 and S$1 million.

The Singapore Seven’s inaugural edition in 2016 drew a total of 55,000 spectators, while the next year saw 34,000 fans attending the two-day rugby event. Event organisers have set a target of 60,000 fans for this year’s tournament.

With a proportion of foreign visitors traveling here for the Singapore Sevens – 24 per cent of spectators in 2017 were from overseas – the event generated a total economic impact of $23.5 million last year, a 9.3 per cent increase from the previous year’s S$21.5 million.

While the events in 2016 and 2017 did not break even, Rugby Singapore is aiming for the Singapore Sevens to turn a profit by 2023.

Mr Lim told TODAY that the Singapore Sevens is a long term investment for the SRU, and the sport’s development, as he cited the increased interest in rugby at the schools and grassroots level.

He added: “I believe the event is a marquee event and it should be the tent pole event in Singapore. We can own the first half of the year, and the second half belongs to F1 (Singapore Grand Prix).”

Visit http://www.singapore7s.sg/home to purchase tickets to the HSBC Singapore Rugby 7s