*By Amanda Weston*
Rugby is the globe's [second most popular sport](https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/10/america-rugbys-last-frontier/408982/). And after the San Francisco Giants hosted the World Cup Sevens in their stadium last weekend, rugby might [take hold](https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/16/sport/rise-of-american-rugby-ebner-serevi-wooching/index.html) in the U.S.
At the very least, the sport has a new advocate in Stephen Revetria, senior vice president of the Giants.
"To have this opportunity to bid on it, to get it here in our ballpark, it's pretty special," he told Cheddar on Tuesday.
Revetria didn't take the operation lightly. He says the research took several yearsーand required serious travel.
"Over the last three years we traveled the world, learned more about rugby, and were able to get the pitch, get the entertainment right, and really build the excitement and enthusiasm through everything we've been working on for the last few years.
The work, it seems, has paid off: The tournament at the Giant's AT&T park marked the largest rugby event in U.S. history. World Rugby Chief executive Brett Gosper told the Independent on Wednesday he wants the sport to [fully enter](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/international/rugby-world-cup-united-states-us-bid-2027-2031-brett-gosper-chief-executive-a8462301.html) the American market.
Gosper said he welcomes a "magnificent" bid from the U.S. as the process to award the 2027 World Cup looms.
World Rugby [ranks](https://www.worldrugby.org/rankings/mru?lang=en) the U.S. men's team 15th, out of 105 countries. The women's team ranks fifth out of 53.
As for the future of the AT&T park, Revetria said a new village with shops and restaurants is on the horizon.
"It's been a great collaboration with the city, World Rugby, and the Giants."
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/rugby-world-cup-sevens-finds-home-in-san-francisco)
Fintech companies are taking notice of the rapid growth in esports, and Quicken Loans has partnered with 100 Thieves, a League of Legends expansion team. Quicken CMO Casey Hurbis said this venture opened the company's eyes to the endless possibilities of esports and its personalities.
The Twitter Esports Business Summit ran from Oct. 1-3, and it held its focus on the growing market of esports and how Twitter fits into the business. Rishi Chadha, head of gaming content partnerships at Twitter, said the company is focusing on the communities that foster players and fans, as well as publishers and developers of different platforms.
The team became the first in the NBA to introduce GIFs for the Facebook platform. Sandro Gasparro, director of social media for the Los Angeles Clippers, told Cheddar it's not just another way to promote engagement, but can also connect fans to players on a more personal level.
Ralf Reichert, CEO of ESL, sat down with Cheddar at this weekend's tournament at the Barclays Center and talked about the esports world and what he believes is needed for the enterprise to grow.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Ron Darling, a former MLB starting pitcher and current TBS baseball analyst, said the easiest way to attract younger people to baseball is to get more kids playing it when they're kids. Darling said there are more children opting out of football due to concerns about head injuries, and those athletes should be primed to take up a different sport.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
18Birdies has seen success as a one-stop shop for golfers, both amateur and pro, gaining 1.3 million members since its launch. The app lets players book tee times, navigate a new course, and choose the right club. But CEO Eddy Lui says the main goal is to create a community ー a social network ー of golfers.
The blockchain has made its way into a slew of industries. Next at bat ー the sports world. The Los Angeles Dodgers are moving away from traditional promotions and have begun using crypto tokens to give away digital bobbleheads to fans. Ralph Esquibel, VP of information technology for the team, said this is the first giveaway of its kind and could lead to more experiments with cryptocurrencies.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
