Bilbao to host major European club rugby finals in 2018

Bilbao will become the first city outside Britain, Ireland and France to host the event, while the 2019 finals have been awarded to Newcastle, the EPCR said in a statement on Monday.





Next year's finals will be held at San Mames Stadium, the home of La Liga side Athletic Bilbao. The stadium has a capacity of 53,289 following its recent refurbishment.

"We are very excited to be taking the best club rugby in the world to fans in what is largely a new market," EPCR Chairman Simon Halliday said. "Bilbao is an excellent destination which breaks new ground for our tournaments and we see this as a big step in the expansion of our sport across the continent."

The Champions Cup is a top-tier competition for clubs that have qualified in their national leagues in countries that are part of the Six Nations, while the Challenge Cup is for clubs from the second-tier.

The French city of Lyon staged the finals weekend last year. That event generated an estimated 20.4 million euros ($21.7 million) for the local economy.

Italy's Milan was due to host the final in 2015 but it instead went to Twickenham after the demise of the old Heineken Cup format.









(Reporting by Aditi Prakash in Bengaluru; editing by Mark Heinrich)


Share

1 min read

Published

Source: Reuters



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world