Premier Rugby Sevens (PR7s), the all-new professional rugby league making its debut with top North American men’s and women’s players on Saturday, Oct. 9, announced today that TSN is the league’s official Canadian television broadcast partner. The league’s launch event, dubbed The PR7s Inaugural Championship, includes nine Canadian players and two Canadian coaches. The inaugural men’s and women’s tournaments are available to TSN and TSN Direct subscribers in Canada on Saturday, Oct. 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET on TSN.ca and the TSN app, and from 4 – 6 p.m. ET on TSN4.
“Bringing our inaugural championship to a Canadian audience through TSN is huge for our league and rugby fans throughout Canada,” said Owen Scannell, CEO of Premier Rugby Sevens. “As a North American-based league, our intent is to bring PR7s events to Canada and attract more high-level Canadian athletes to our league as pandemic-related restrictions are lifted and we grow PR7s into the future.”
Five of the Canadian players in PR7s are men, including former HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series player Jared Douglas. Canadian women to sign with PR7s include Delaney Aikens of the Canadian women’s sevens senior national team, University of Victoria Standout Emerald Maze, and Canadian International Women’s Players Julia Folk and Emily Samek. Additional men slated to suit up are Team Canada USport players Noah Bain and Jonas Robinson and rising Canadian 7s star Lucas Scheck. Robin MacDowell and Sean White are two PR7s coaches that have represented Rugby Canada internationally. A total of 120 North American players will be part of the inaugural event.
The league’s first player signings featured several stars from both the Men’s and Women’s U.S. Olympic Rugby Sevens Teams, including Perry Baker, Danny Barrett, Abby Gustaitis, Carlin Isles, Alev Kelter, Kristi Kirshe, Folau Niua, Naya Tapper, Stephen Tomasin, and Kevon Williams.
PR7s promises to provide equal pay under one league umbrella and will adopt a touring format in cities across the U.S. and Canada. The league will feature six men’s teams and four women’s teams that will play multiple games in one location on a single day. Team brands include the Loonies, who will hail from the North, including Canada. The Team will represent Texas and the plains. The Loggerheads will associate with Cascadia. The Locals will ride with the New Yorkers. The Experts will emerge from the Mountain West. And the Headliners will identify with the Midsouth.
