SINGAPORE — The Singapore Sports Hub has entered into a strategic partnership with Rugby Singapore — a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Rugby Union (SRU) — to host the Singapore leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series for the next four years.

The deal, which was announced yesterday, will see the two parties combine resources to organise the April 16-17 event at the National Stadium. The SRU will be granted free use of the venue for the two-day showpiece, while the Sports Hub will also aid in marketing the event at a regional level. The revenue generated from the event will be split between the Sports Hub and SRU. The percentage that each entity will receive was not disclosed.

SRU president Low Teo Ping hailed the partnership as one that could potentially transform the Singapore Sevens into the most successful series in the 10-leg circuit.

“The World Rugby Sevens is of a global stature with world-class players, and we have a world-class venue in the form of the Sports Hub,” said Low. “So it is only natural that we’re able to bring these two together in a hard-nosed business partnership that will definitely move the event forward to a level that is second to none.

“We do believe that there is critical mass in Singapore and the region in terms of spectators that will help create a fan base, and we want to give them an experience that will make them want to come back every year.”

Sports Hub CEO Manu Sawhney added: “We believe this (Singapore Sevens) could become an iconic event that Singaporeans will be proud of. We are sharing the risk because we do share a vision that we can genuinely make this event a success over a period of time. There is enough resilience and commitment from both the partners to build it, which adds a long-term stability for the fans.”

More than 10,000 tickets to the event have already been snapped up, but Low hopes to get that number up to around the 25,000 mark by the time the event comes around. However, he predicts that it will still need a few years before the event can play to sell-out crowds.

Referring to the strong fan viewership for rugby events that Asian neighbour Hong Kong enjoys, Low explained: “It took 35 years for Hong Kong rugby to get to where they are today. But we can reach that level in lesser time because we have a world-class venue. I’m confident that we will be able to succeed in not only getting people here, but also to achieve a good set of financial balance as well.”

While this partnership is unprecedented in Singapore Sports, Sawhney revealed that the Sports Hub would be open to “consider and evaluate” similar opportunities, and were already in discussions with other event organisers.

“The key element of this is the fact that it needs to be long term, sustainable and it needs to be strategic,” he said. “There must be a vision of being able to create a certain class of event or engagement from a community perspective that has a seasonality factor to it. For example, if the organiser (of the ASEAN Super League) is able to come and sit down with us and say this is the long-term vision we have and this is what we are willing to give and set up, we will be most willing to (talk).

“I’m also very heavily involved in the world of cricket in terms of buying events globally. So I think from a start perspective, given where we are, the Twenty20 format would be a good beginning because of the sheer population of the cricket fanatics that we have, plus it will give Singaporeans a taste of something that is fun and short.”