Rugby sevens continue to engage global audiences and break new ground. The men’s and women’s 2018 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series saw record-breaking fan engagement figures with over 120 million video views, a 60% increase on 2017.

The 2019 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series will be hotly contested as 15 core men’s teams and 11 core women’s teams compete for the world series title and with next season’s series acting as the principal route for qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, it promises to be once again highly competitive.

This season, the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series increases to six rounds with USA Rugby hosting the new opening round in Glendale, Colorado 20-21 October 2018.

Round two and three are combined events alongside the men’s series, taking place in Dubai 29-30 November 2018 and Sydney 1-2 February 2019 with round four taking place in Kitakyushu, 20-21 April 2019 and round five scheduled for 11-12 May in Langford, Canada. The final round of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s sevens series will culminate in Paris, 31 May – 1 June 2019.

The men’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series will be contested across ten rounds from December 2018 to June 2019.

The series opener will kick off in Dubai, 30-1 December 2018, before teams move to round two in Cape Town, South Africa the following week.

In the New Year, men’s teams will travel to Hamilton, New Zealand, 26-27 January 2019 before both men’s and women’s teams are welcomed to Sydney, Australia, for three days of action-packed rugby sevens from 1-3 February 2019.

Fifth and sixth rounds for the men’s series will be hosted in Las Vegas, USA on 1-3 March 2019 and Vancouver, Canada on 9-10 March 2019, before teams travel to Hong Kong, 5-7 April 2019 and Singapore, 13-14 April 2019 for rounds seven and eight respectively.

The penultimate round of the series will take place again in London, 25-26 May 2019, with round ten hosted in Paris from 1-2 June 2019.

World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said “As we enter an Olympic Games qualifying year, the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series promises to again be highly competitive as both men’s and women’s teams look to secure their place, via the world series, at Tokyo 2020.

“Rugby sevens has seen record growth in awareness in recent years with its inclusion in the Olympics having a profound effect on the sport, attracting an estimated 30 million fans globally. The series continues to capture the imagination of global audiences with record-breaking fan engagement figures of over 120million video views recorded this year.

“The world series is truly one of the rugby sevens flagship competitions and we are looking forward to watching teams, once again compete at the highest level for, not only for the coveted world series title, but also Olympic qualification.”

Leanne Cutts, HSBC Group General Manager and Group Head of Marketing: “As a long-term partner of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, we can take great pride in the work we’ve done with World Rugby to help deliver the record growth and expansion the game has enjoyed in recent seasons.

“The men’s and women’s games on the pitch are more spectacular than ever. With electrifying athletes, jaw-dropping skills, and fascinating personalities, we firmly believe Rugby Sevens is as entertaining as any sport out there. With the sport’s second Olympics now on the horizon in 2020, there are significant opportunities to engage even more new players, fans, and countries.”

The 2019 series also welcomes China and Japan, who join the women’s and men’s competitions respectively as core teams having secured qualification in Hong Kong earlier in the year.