Rugby sevens, for one, is worth big numbers on the global sporting scene.

By popularity, by crowds, by TV ratings, and by any metric most of all, by dollars and cents.

A remodelled format of its professional peak competition - the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series – in 2022 had been projected to bring in more than $700 million.

It is the envy of most international sports, let alone the nations and cultures that produce the bulk of the talent.

The statistics and records of rugby sevens point to the Pacific.

No matter which country, it's a largely Indigenous code and success story.

It's there in Samoa, in Tonga, it's certainly there in the Maori-packed lineups of New Zealand, but none more so than in Fiji.

They collectively have and do dominate the sevens variant of rugby union around the world.

In a recent phenomenon, the Pacific nations are trying to take back their game.

The inaugural Oceania Rugby Sevens Championship that was won by Samoa against Tonga was first launched in 2008.

While the tournament is delivered as a precursor for leading Pacific nations ahead of the World Sevens series that begins later in December, the Oceania championship does have a genuine regional relevance.

None more so than the most recent 2024 championship, which saw half of the competitors represent non-traditional rugby union nations of American Samoa, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, Tahiti, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and first-time tournament hosts, the Solomon Islands, 12 months after holding a successful Pacific Games.

This year Samoa claimed its fifth annual Oceania title and first since 2013 in an upset 17-12 win over Fiji at Honiara's newly-built stadium.

Samoa's triumph ties it with Fiji for most championship wins.

A heartbreaking 21-21 draw in the group stage against Niue cost the hosts a spot in the knockout finals before scoring a win against Tahiti but a loss against Tonga.

The thrill of the championship was Tuvalu, who qualified for the quarter-finals and caused a boilover 21-19 victory over Japan to face Fiji in the semi-finals.

Tuvalu lost against the favourites, but went within a whisker of upsetting Tonga 24-19 in the bronze-medal playoff.

That same weekend which started out three years earlier as a tourism draw has turned into a festival of different forms of the rugby code.

The advent of the Fijian Cup Championships had been introduced to attract visitor numbers back to the island nation after travel hiccups over the pandemic period.

The inaugural 2021 tournament handed an opportunity for keen touch rugby players from New Zealand and Australia to play in a competition against Fijian locals once overseas travel returned.

The popularity of the touch rugby saw the organisers add a separate rugby league nines and Oztag fixture the following two years.

This year the highlight was the inclusion of rugby sevens in Fiji, which included former All Blacks legend Mils Muliaina playing in an ambassadorial role.

Muliaina encouraged more quality players to turn up by describing how "Fiji is the best place for rugby sevens".

"It's been absolutely fantastic," he said.

"It's amazing to come back here particularly for the sevens and help promote it.

"It's especially great to see teams from New Zealand come over here.

"Fiji is known for being a popular tourist attraction, but sevens rugby is also a big part here.

"So to be able to give back to the younger generations is amazing."

Organisers say the Fijian Cup Championship is a great way to entice community groups and regional teams from four rugby codes throughout the Pacific to come together for a special occasion.

The winners of each of the coveted Fijian Cup titles earn more than $30,000 in cash and prizes to entice the visitors, but also the locals.

The exposure for local Fijian regional teams have been a vital aspect of the growing success for the range of playing events, Fijian Cup Championship director Luke Chapman told a press conference.

Chapman said the tournament fosters a unique blend of "competitive spirit and cultural immersion" where players and other visitors experience true Fijian 'Bula' hospitality.

"You don't really get this opportunity unless you had a World Cup or the likes of it," Chapman said about the quality of players turning up for community teams.

"They get an opportunity to play with some players that they've seen on TV or on YouTube or, even, World Cups and stuff, and so that just adds to it."

The tournament this year was broadcast across Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and throughout the region on Pasifika TV for the first time.

Tourism Fiji CEO, Brent Hill, the initial brainchild behind the sporting tourism event, said the economic stimulation of the Fijian Cup Championships could not be underestimated.

"What we've seen are somewhere in the vicinity of around 250 to 300 visitors per event each year, and with the aim to increase that level of participation (next year)," Hill said.

"The resulting expenditure is possibly between $550,000 to $700,000 and that means it's about $2.5 million in revenue generated from the whole festival."