US broadcasting giant NBC Sports Group has snapped up exclusive rights to the World Rugby Sevens Series through 2023.

The four-year deal, which starts with the upcoming season, provides the network with 300 hours of annual coverage from the circuit’s men’s and women’s competitions across its linear and digital platforms, including NBCSN, Olympic Channel, the NBC Sports website and app, OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app.

Fans will also be able to access the coverage with a subscription to NBC Sports Gold, the company’s premium digital offering.

The deal sees the Sevens Series return to NBC Sports having previously been shown by the broadcaster between 2010 and 2016. Since then, the tournament has been aired by ESPN on its ESPN+ over-the-top (OTT) service.

The agreement further cements NBC Sports’ status as the broadcast home of rugby union in the US, adding to its coverage of the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups, England’s domestic Premiership Rugby and the sevens tournaments at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

“We are excited to welcome back the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series to the NBC Sports family,” said Jon Miller, President of Programming for NBC Sports & NBCSN. “As we head into an Olympic year, this partnership with World Rugby allows us to add to our portfolio of the most marquee rugby events in the world and help grow the sport both domestically and internationally.”

The new season begins later this year with the opening round of the women’s circuit – which is featuring eight legs for the first time - in Glendale, Colorado on 5th and 6th October. The men kick off their ten-round campaign in Dubai from 5th to 7th December.

Brett Gosper, World Rugby chief executive, added: “After a hugely successful Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco last year, attended by over 100,000 fans, the popularity of rugby sevens is growing rapidly in the United States and we look forward to the opportunities that working with NBC Sports Group will bring in continuing to reach new audiences in this important market over the next four years.”

NBC will be looking to continue to capitalise on the growth of rugby union in the US. Research recently carried out by industry analyst Nielsen concluded that the country has the highest proportion of rugby fans worldwide, with more than 33 million people stating they are either ‘interested or very interested’ in the sport.