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Amidst the excitement of the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals yesterday I started to truly feel the sting of the United States missing out on qualification. I thought about the reasons why we had missed out and what I could do to help off the field.

One thing that American rugby lacks is a media industry. Analyze the ecosystem of any major sport and it's obvious that media is a key component in popularity, support, and funding. If you look at the NFL, there's an infinite amount of content for fans to consume. There are articles, blogs, pre-game shows, post-game shows, interviews, highlights, podcasts, talk shows, press conferences, and so many other forms of content.

This network of media is what truly drives the popularity of the sport. It's literally advertising for these teams and their games on the dime of media companies. Needless to say, American rugby needs a serious public relations glow-up. Fans want to live and breathe their sport, their team, their favorite players. American rugby fans are deprived of that privilege. If we want to take the pitch in Australia in 2027, we need to drive participation and popularity of our sport. I believe a significant increase in media will accomplish this goal and is the next step toward awakening the sleeping giant that is the United States of America.

Look out Goff Rugby Report. Here comes some competition!

About the Author

A native of Illinois, Connor Olvera picked up rugby when he moved to Highland, Utah. He won two state championships with United Rugby, also placing third in nationals twice. After returning from a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Connor was a multi-year starter for BYU Rugby. While at BYU, Connor was a part of 5 conference championships and a final-four finish in the Cougar's most recent season. He was a two-time selection for the Collegiate Rugby Shield Game and was drafted in the third round by the Dallas Jackals.

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