18-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Powerplays, no half-time and cannon balls: new global sevens circuit eyes 2026 launch
A new sevens tournament based on clubs not countries, and format changes such as power plays and no half-time will launch in 2026, with officials believing it would help rather than hinder the sport.
Bankrolled by BIA Sports Group (BSG), the company that owns Premier League club Sunderland, the hoped-to-be global competition has a working name of Project 7s and a start date of August next year.
Games would be played over the course of four hours on one evening, rather than stretched across three days, and 164 of the world's best players have reportedly already been approached about being involved in the tournament.
The new circuit, which has secured an eight-figure sum in seed funding, would involve seven men's and seven women's teams competing in seven venues across seven weeks in the summer, with London, Paris and Rome among the cities floated as possible locations for matches.
When asked, Hong Kong China Rugby said it did not know anything about the project, which BSG said would not be in competition with the elite HSBC SVNS Series, of which the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens is a part.
Kenya (red) and United States do battle during the Hong Kong Sevens 2025 at Kai Tak Stadium. Photo: Reuters
In an interview with Tom Burwell, the BSG CEO, said he considered the new competition to be 'complementary to the ecosystem'.
