2025 RLWC USA?

[DC_fan]

with FIFA announcing that the 2026 world cup will be played in the US, Canada and Mexico, i am pretty sure that event will steal leagues thunder for our world cup to be played less than a year earlier.

News and social media will highlight the FIFA World Cup, and the RLWC will be pushed into the background

 

[titoelcolombiano]

with FIFA announcing that the 2026 world cup will be played in the US, Canada and Mexico, i am pretty sure that event will steal leagues thunder for our world cup to be played less than a year earlier.

News and social media will highlight the FIFA World Cup, and the RLWC will be pushed into the background

It was probably never going to attract major attention anyway but at least the positive will be that there might be some nice mid-size football stadia built which we could use.

 

[Diesel]

RL is always going to be a neiche sport in North America

 

[DIOGENES]

Wasn't Neiche a 19th century German philosopher much loved by the Nazis?

 

[adamkungl]

with FIFA announcing that the 2026 world cup will be played in the US, Canada and Mexico, i am pretty sure that event will steal leagues thunder for our world cup to be played less than a year earlier.

News and social media will highlight the FIFA World Cup, and the RLWC will be pushed into the background

How does an event a year later steal our thunder?

 

[DC_fan]

How does an event a year later steal our thunder?

Well we know what all the news will be about in the 12 months leading up to the FIFA World Cup in 2026. Not to say that RLWC 2025 would receive much publicity anyway, but now it will receive even less.

I can just imagine Americans around that time when they hear the term World Cup, it won’t even cross their minds that it could be a sport other than soccer. For mine RLWC2025 will get lost in the wash, and that is a real shame.

 

[adamkungl]

Well we know what all the news will be about in the 12 months leading up to the FIFA World Cup in 2026. Not to say that RLWC 2025 would receive much publicity anyway, but now it will receive even less.

I can just imagine Americans around that time when they hear the term World Cup, it won’t even cross their minds that it could be a sport other than soccer. For mine RLWC2025 will get lost in the wash, and that is a real shame.

I doubt it will have much of an effect. Rugby League was never gonna be front page news.

 

[VictoryFC]

It was probably never going to attract major attention anyway but at least the positive will be that there might be some nice mid-size football stadia built which we could use.

Thatll be a no.

The list of venues is already decided, which theyll whittle down. Theyre all existing nfl stadiums

 

[Springs09]

Thatll be a no.

The list of venues is already decided, which theyll whittle down. Theyre all existing nfl stadiums

The list of venues is already decided for a tournament 7 years away?

 

[Usain Bolt]

Isn’t the RLWC going to be played during the NFL season? Would they want their stadiums being used for another sport?

 

[deluded pom?]

Thatll be a no.

The list of venues is already decided, which theyll whittle down. Theyre all existing nfl stadiums

Do you have a link to this?

 

[DC_fan]

Isn’t the RLWC going to be played during the NFL season? Would they want their stadiums being used for another sport?

Not only the NFL season, but also College Football season. NFL teams like the Dallas Cowboys rent their stadiums out for many different events, even during the football season. The playing surface at the Cowboys AT&T Stadium is artificial and can be removed and quickly replaced by a different surface. To have a true grassed field which league is played on, available for replacement would be extremely expensive. A fair number of the football stadiums in the US have artificial grass as their playing surface. So I am not sure how this will carry through to their use in the World Cup.

 

[VictoryFC]

The list of venues is already decided for a tournament 7 years away?

Do you have a link to this?

I was responding to titoelcolombiano who claimed that there would be mid-sized stadiums built for the fifa wc. My response was that the list of venues for the fifa wc is already decided based on the bid submitted by the organisers. springs it seems like you think i was referring to venues for the RLWC.

 

[deluded pom?]

I was responding to titoelcolombiano who claimed that there would be mid-sized stadiums built for the fifa wc. My response was that the list of venues for the fifa wc is already decided based on the bid submitted by the organisers. springs it seems like you think i was referring to venues for the RLWC.

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Springs09]

I was responding to titoelcolombiano who claimed that there would be mid-sized stadiums built for the fifa wc. My response was that the list of venues for the fifa wc is already decided based on the bid submitted by the organisers. springs it seems like you think i was referring to venues for the RLWC.

It did, because it sounded like you were.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Isn’t the RLWC going to be played during the NFL season? Would they want their stadiums being used for another sport?

I will genuinely be surprised if ANY games are played in NFL stadiums...

Seems far more likely that the comp will go for the smaller stadiums (MLS, smaller College stadiums, etc.)

Between rent costs, clashed with other comps and the honest expectations of crowds, i think smaller stadiums are just about guarenteed.

 

[adamkungl]

Re: Honest expectations of crowds.

America is a huge place. There's little chance of over-saturation and there's no excuse for any games to be played in tinpot towns and shithole cow paddocks like we used in our hosting (Cairns). Actually there was no excuse for us to do that either but that's over and done with.

If Denver, with conflicted promotion due to the NRLs obstructions, can be considered a low or even middle sized crowd in 2025 then we are in for a treat, a total game changer for international Rugby League.
19,000 average would be the best World Cup ever crowd-wise, and 19,000 in the USA is worth a hell of a lot more for the game than 19,000 in Sydney.
America may not have the inbuilt disdain for anyone outside the top 3 that sees the minnow games disregarded in Australia. On the other hand they may not have the hype that sees the big 3 pull crowds.

Here's a list of places that could host games and with a smart and well funded promotion team clear the 20k crowd mark.
It wouldn't surprise me if this is the most well travelled RLWC of all time, with many of these places being tourist destinations well above the delights that North of England has to offer, and the USA being half the travel time and cost that England and Australia are from each other.
Many will travel planning to not only see RLWC games but also see NFL and NBA on the same trip.

LA
San Francisco
San Diego
Portland
Seattle
Vegas
Salt Lake City
Denver
Houston
Austin
New Orleans
Chicago
Pittsburgh
New York
Philadelphia
Washington
Atlanta
Jacksonville
Orlando
Vancouver
Toronto

 

[Valheru]

Re: Honest expectations of crowds.

America is a huge place. There's little chance of over-saturation and there's no excuse for any games to be played in tinpot towns and shithole cow paddocks like we used in our hosting (Cairns). Actually there was no excuse for us to do that either but that's over and done with.

If Denver, with conflicted promotion due to the NRLs obstructions, can be considered a low or even middle sized crowd in 2025 then we are in for a treat, a total game changer for international Rugby League.
19,000 average would be the best World Cup ever crowd-wise, and 19,000 in the USA is worth a hell of a lot more for the game than 19,000 in Sydney.
America may not have the inbuilt disdain for anyone outside the top 3 that sees the minnow games disregarded in Australia. On the other hand they may not have the hype that sees the big 3 pull crowds.

Here's a list of places that could host games and with a smart and well funded promotion team clear the 20k crowd mark.
It wouldn't surprise me if this is the most well travelled RLWC of all time, with many of these places being tourist destinations well above the delights that North of England has to offer, and the USA being half the travel time and cost that England and Australia are from each other.
Many will travel planning to not only see RLWC games but also see NFL and NBA on the same trip.

LA
San Francisco
San Diego
Portland
Seattle
Vegas
Salt Lake City
Denver
Houston
Austin
New Orleans
Chicago
Pittsburgh
New York
Philadelphia
Washington
Atlanta
Jacksonville
Orlando
Vancouver
Toronto

Good post and you are correct that America is a great spot for a world tournament and a travelling fan's dream, especially in oct/nov which as far as sheer volume or events is the high time for sports in the states with NFL, MLB (playoffs), NBA and NHL all being on.

Having said that, i do have to wonder what affect the FIFA world cup 7 months later in the same country will have on the prospective numbers of fans travelling for the RLWC, especially those from england and australia. Most people would only be able to do one or the other....

 

[Stallion]

Good post and you are correct that America is a great spot for a world tournament and a travelling fan's dream, especially in oct/nov which as far as sheer volume or events is the high time for sports in the states with NFL, MLB (playoffs), NBA and NHL all being on.

Having said that, i do have to wonder what affect the FIFA world cup 7 months later in the same country will have on the prospective numbers of fans travelling for the RLWC, especially those from england and australia. Most people would only be able to do one or the other....

I'm looking at doing the Rugby-league world cup in North America for sure!

 

[Pommy]

Good post and you are correct that America is a great spot for a world tournament and a travelling fan's dream, especially in oct/nov which as far as sheer volume or events is the high time for sports in the states with NFL, MLB (playoffs), NBA and NHL all being on.

Having said that, i do have to wonder what affect the FIFA world cup 7 months later in the same country will have on the prospective numbers of fans travelling for the RLWC, especially those from england and australia. Most people would only be able to do one or the other....

But the world cups both being in the USA would have very little effect on that I would imagine. England fans were unlikely to go to Aus last year and Russia this summer.