*By Christian Smith*
It's been barely a week since the eyes of the sports world were focused on the the FIFA World Cup. Now rugby gets to step into the spotlight ー and very likely attract the most attention it has ever seen in the U.S.
The Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 began Friday at AT&T Park in San Francisco. It's the largest rugby event ever in the U.S. with 64 teams competing in the men's and women's tournaments.
Hosting the tournament on American soil gives USA Rugby one of its best ever opportunities to grow the sport's presence and popularity in the U.S. USA Rugby Commercial Director Mark Griffin says the sport has already made major inroads into mainstream American sports culture since he arrived from his native England.
"I've been here 19 years, and I've seen major growth, probably a doubling, I think, in terms of the number of people involved in the game over that period of time," said in an interview on Cheddar.
Rugby sevens is a version of the game featuring [smaller teams and shorter matches](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_sevens). In sevens matches, seven players play seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves.
To grow the game's presence in the country, Griffin says USA Rugby is working to boost the resources available for the national teams as well as get the game into the educational system from youth programs to college. "The college infrastructure in America is absolutely incredible and second to none," he told Cheddar.
USA Rugby's efforts are already paying off. Both the American men's and women's teams come into the tournament near the top of the pack. The women are ranked fifth in the world, and the men are ranked sixth.
While rugby's popularity will likely never reach the level of football in America, Griffin says it doesn't matter.
"We don't need to be the NFL ー we don't need to be any of the big major sports," he said. "There's enough people here that love what rugby stands for that we can carve out our own little niche."
Competition will continue through Sunday. The American women already notched a big 38-7 win over China. The American men are playing Friday night.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/how-usa-rugby-is-growing-the-sport-stateside)
With the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing rapidly approaching, clouds of controversy continue to swirl around China's treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority population, its surveillance state, and security for visiting athletes. Phelim Kine, China correspondent for Politico, joined Cheddar to break down the big storylines surrounding the Beijing Games and highlight what he saw as the complete disregard by top corporate sponsors like P&G, Airbnb, Intel, Visa, and Coca-Cola, for the controversies. "They spend $100 million for every Olympics that they sponsor, and they have frankly shown absolute willful indifference to any type of entreaty to essentially be more vocal about their concerns about human rights in China," he said. Kine also touched on the data privacy fears for athletes as visiting contingents are being told to carry burner phones to avoid security risks.
NFL games continue to be among some of the highest-rated programs on television. In 2021, viewership jumped 10 percent from the previous year to an average of 17.1 million as the league debuted its first 18-week season after running on a 16-week schedule since 1978. Fans — and team owners — welcomed the change with open arms, but a vocal percentage of players were not as ecstatic (despite the union signing off). Those who were against adding games cited health and safety concerns as their main reason. While the extended season means fatter pockets for the league, the opposition asks: is it worth the risk? Cheddar's JD Durkin breaks it all down.
With the Australian Open set to begin on Monday, Novak Djokovic is once again being threatened with deportation from Australia after his visa was briefly reinstated and revoked again over alleged discrepancies. Djokovic’s team will sit for an Immigration hearing on Saturday.
Decorated skier Lindsey Vonn did not hold back when touching on mental health in "Rise," her new memoir. "My mental health is definitely part of my story," she said. "Now I'm just thankful that this conversation is so much more talked about — Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, Kevin Love, Michael Phelps, all have been outspoken about it." She noted that she felt happy that readers, particularly kids, get to see a vulnerable side to her in the book. The gold medalist also went on to note what she's most looking forward to watching in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
It was 'game on' for sports bettors in the state of New York, as mobile betting kicked off on four major betting operating platforms Saturday. This comes at an exciting time for sports fans with some of the biggest NFL games of the season right around the corner. Cam Rogers - Host of Lock It In with Cam Rogers, Betting Analyst at the Bleav Podcast Network joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Former wide receiver for the New York Giants, Victor Cruz has partnered with Krystal Restaurants, a popular burger chain in the South, to bring the franchise to his home state of New Jersey. Cruz and Alice Crowder, CMO of Krystal Restaurants, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the venture. The five new locations will be known as "Victor Cruz's Krystal," decked out with memorabilia from his football career, with the former player explaining how "hands-on" he plans on being. "You never know, OK? You might walk in and Victor Cruz will be flipping a burger back there, and you might be getting it directly from the source," he said.
Max Bichsel, vice president at Gambling.com Group joins Cheddar News to talk about the growing sports betting industry, New York legalizing mobile betting, and 2022 predictions for the sector.
Cody Roark, NFL analyst at Pro Football Network joins Cheddar News to talk about NFL playoff predictions and which teams have a shot at the Super Bowl.
