Baseball, Soccer backing for Sevens

The United States have confirmed that they have submitted a bid to World Rugby to host the World Cup Sevens tournament in 2018.

USA Rugby, in conjunction with the San Francisco Giants baseball franchise, the San Jose Earthquakes soccer team and the Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee, plan for the proposed three-day tournament to be held in the San Francisco area.

"Hosting a World Cup in the US would be a huge boost to the development of the game in the United States and support the goals of World Rugby to make it a truly global game," USA Rugby Chief Executive Officer Nigel Melville said. "We are committed to delivering an unforgettable sporting experience for the teams and fans."

Northern California has been visited by international rugby more than any other region in the United States in the past 100 years.

The most recent event to be held in the area, an international Test between the US Eagles and Canada in Sacramento in June, drew a sold-out crowd to newly-built Bonney Field.

The region is also home to a few of the country's biggest clubs, successful colleges, and explosive growth in both the high school and youth communities.

The event is due to be played in 2018, and will include 24 men and 16 women international teams from across the globe.

"The Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee is delighted that USA Rugby has chosen to bid for this prestigious event and to host it in the Bay Area," 1960 Olympian and BASOC Chief Executive Officer Anne Warner-Cribbs said.

"We will be working with USA Rugby and the city of San Francisco to welcome the teams and their fans to California, one of America's most successful sporting states."

Argentina, Hong Kong (twice), Russia, Scotland, and United Arab Emirates have hosted World Cup Sevens in the past, with Fiji and New Zealand having captured two titles each.

Last year in Moscow, both New Zealand's men and women teams emerged with gold, while the Women Eagles Sevens won bronze.

Sevens will make its Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro two years prior to World Cup Sevens 2018.

The sport is also on the Games Program for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, with the International Olympic Committee to decide the sport's future for later Games.

The host city of World Cup Sevens 2018 will be announced by World Rugby in May 2015.