Future Olympians to Participate; Top Four Teams From 2014-15 Sevens World Series Automatically Qualify for 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio
NBC and NBCSN Combine to Present 8 Hours of Coverage
Universal Sports Network to Present 8.5 Hours of Live Coverage
NBC’s Live Coverage Begins Saturday at 2 p.m. ET
STAMFORD, Conn. – Feb. 11, 2014 – Potential 2016 Olympic rugby players from around the world will be showcased on NBC, NBCSN and Universal Sports Network this weekend, when the three networks combine to deliver 20 hours of coverage from the 2015 USA Sevens International Rugby Tournament from Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev. NBC’s coverage begins Saturday, Feb. 14, at 2 p.m. ET, and event coverage kicks off on Friday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on Universal Sports Network.
NBC Sports Group’s presentation of the tournament will feature live coverage of full matches, as well as highlights from the three-day event.
NBC Sports Live Extra – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets – will provide streaming coverage of NBC and NBCSN’s USA Sevens Rugby presentations. UniversalSports.com will stream all Universal Sports coverage.
One of the premier Rugby Sevens events in the world, the USA Sevens International Rugby Tournament is the fifth of nine events in the 2014-15 HSBC Sevens World Series, and is the largest Rugby tournament in North America. USA Sevens Rugby will feature the USA Eagles and 15 other national teams competing to gain points in the Sevens World Series standings.
Played on the same size field as traditional 15-player rugby, sevens rugby is played with just seven players per team. Matches have seven-minute halves, with two-minute intervals for pool and knock-out matches. Sevens rugby will return to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, following a 92-year hiatus, where the United States will defend its gold medal from the 1924 Olympics in Paris.
Veteran play-by-play announcer Todd Harris will call the matches for NBC and NBCSN. Harris will be joined in the booth by former USA Sevens captain and USA Rugby World Cup participant Brian Hightower. Marty Snider will report from the sidelines.
In addition to this weekend’s coverage from Las Vegas, Universal Sports, home to the HSBC Sevens World Series, will televise more than eight hours of coverage from remaining 2014-15 events in Hong Kong, Japan, Scotland, and England later this year.
The NBC Sports Group is also the exclusive home of the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship. NBC and NBCSN will telecast 9.5 hours of collegiate Rugby Sevens action from the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship in Philadelphia, Pa., on May 30-31.
Following is the telecast schedule for NBC Sports Group and Universal Sports Network’s coverage of the 2015 USA Sevens International Rugby Tournament.
2015 USA Sevens Rugby Coverage on NBC, NBCSN and Universal Sports
| Date | Network | Time (ET) |
| Fri., February 13 | Universal Sports | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sat., February 14 | NBC | 2 p.m. |
| NBCSN | 4:30 p.m. | |
| Universal Sports | 8 p.m. | |
| Sun., February 15 | Universal Sports | 1:30 p.m. |
| NBC | 3 p.m. | |
| NBCSN | 4:30 p.m. |
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