Canada Sevens women’s rugby tournament is moving from Starlight Stadium in Langford to BC Place in Vancouver.
“We hate to lose it. But we kinda know the economics of it, you know it makes sense for them to do it,” said Langford Mayor Stew Young.
It’s a move that will combine the women’s tournament with the men’s tournament.
“We have strived to provide an equal platform for the women’s and men’s games,” said Jamie Levchuk, interim CEO and managing director, revenue, and fan engagement with Rugby Canada.
“We would like to acknowledge the city of Langford for being such an incredible host of our HSBC Canada women’s sevens since 2015. Langford remains the home of Rugby Canada.”
It’s a relationship the municipality’s mayor says is important.
“We’re still working hard with Rugby Canada. [They] said ‘don’t get too concerned we’ll bring other events to compensate for that.’ So I said ‘ok, I’ll hold you to that,'” said Young.
The HSBC Sevens hosted at BC Place in Vancouver draws rugby fans from all over the world, and the building is able to host more than 50,000 people.
Starlight stadium is capped at 6,000.
The stick in the mud? The infamous hydro pole is standing in the way of adding more seats.
“We’ve got that approved to move. Hydro is working on that right now. And the new stands will hopefully be up in the next year, and then we’ll be able to bring in bigger events,” said Young.
It’ll allow the stadium to expand to 10,000 seats, able to host bigger events in Vancouver Islander’s backyards like more sporting events and concerts.
“Now it’s going to be more expensive to go watch Rugby Sevens if you’re on the Island and you have to take the ferry trip there and back. So having the stuff local is really big for us and good for our community. And the residents love it. In Langford, we’re pretty well full for every event they put on there, no matter what it is,” said Young.
The 2023 HSBC Canada Sevens will take place at BC Place in Vancouver on March 3-5.
A full roster of teams for the 2023 season was also confirmed by World Rugby, meaning the likes of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Fiji are in line to compete in Vancouver next March.
Ticket information will be released in the coming months.
Kori Sidaway
