HSBC sign new sponsorship deal for World Rugby Sevens Series as schedule revealed for historic season

World Rugby have agreed to extend their partnership with banking giant HSBC for the World Rugby Sevens Series ©World Rugby

World Rugby have announced they have signed a four-year extension to their current partnership with banking giant HSBC for the World Rugby Sevens Series, in what is described as a record-breaking deal for the competition.

HSBC were announced the title sponsor of the men’s World Rugby Sevens Series in 2009 and the new agreement will see them maintain the naming rights of the competition until 2019, with the series set to expand from its current nine-leg format to ten.

The 2014-2015 series attracted a total of attendance of 542,929.

In addition to extending their successful naming rights partnership of the men’s competition, HSBC will also now hold the naming rights for the Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series.

“HSBC became the first-ever title sponsor of the men’s world series back in 2010, and we are excited to not only be extending this partnership for another four years, but also to become the first-ever title sponsor of the increasingly popular women’s world series,” said Giles Morgan, global head of sponsorship and events at HSBC Holdings.

“The Olympic decision has served as a tremendous catalyst for the growth of sevens around the world, not just in participation but also through the popularity of the HSBC Sevens World Series in recent years."

The new agreement will also see HSBC act at the local title sponsor for several of the individual rounds of the series and World Rugby are positive that the new agreement will continue to grow the sport globally, before and after making it debut on the Olympic programme at Rio de Janeiro next year.

HSBC will be the title sponsor of the women's series, as well as the men's under the new agreement — HSBC will be the title sponsor of the Women's Seven Series, as well as the men's under the new agreement ©World Rugby

“HSBC has been central to the sevens success story and is totally aligned with our mission to attract and inspire new players and audiences,” said World Rugby chairman Bernard Lapasset.

“We are excited about this increased commitment and the certainty it provides over the next four years to grow our sport within existing and emerging rugby markets.

“We are particularly delighted that our flagship women’s series will be supported by HSBC over the next few years.

“The feats of our best female players on the series have been a source of inspiration to young players and the driving force behind ever-increasing popularity and profile."

In addition to the announcement of the extended partnership, World Rugby also revealed the schedule of the men’s competition of the 2015 to 2016 series, which features Cape Town, Sydney and Vancouver as new destinations, in addition to both Singapore and the French capital Paris.

Dubai is due to kick off the series on December 4 and 5, before it moves on to Cape Town on December 12 and 13 and then Wellington, New Zealand on January 30 and 31.

Sydney are set to be the next hosts of the series from February 6 and 7, before it heads to North America as the fifth leg of the series set to take place on March 4 to 6 in Las Vegas, with Vancouver following on March 12 and 13.

Asia will be the next continent visited as Hong Kong will host the series from April 8 to 10, with Singapore following a week later as competition is set to be held on April 16 and 17.

Paris will hold the penultimate event of the series as the build-up to the Olympics will continue as the series comes to a close in Europe, as London hosts the final event of the series on May 21 and 22.