Could a West Coast (USA) team in the NRL work?

[Éamonn an Chnoic]

Hypothetical: we get to 2028, the NRL has been in Las Vegas for the past 5 years and the event just keeps growing. We have established a bit of a local following and the rest is just getting good at selling the event.

Would it be possible to set up a club based in South-West USA to compete in the NRL?

- The timezones work fairly well (USA saturday kickoff for a sunday broadcast in Sydney)
- flights might be tough but you could send a few teams over at once and have them stay for a few weeks (3 aus teams and the WC club could tour for 3-4 weeks of double-headers across a few cities;LV, LA, SD, etc)
- playing in summer could suck. Dont know how to solve that, but there might be space to get attention in the off seasons of the bigger sports

The downside would just be a failed club (we have seen those before and we survived) but the upside for the NRL and the game in general could be world-changing

What do you reckon?

 

[t-ba]

 

[Canard]

No

 

[Maximus]

No

Too negative.

 

[Desert Qlder]

At least it would be a west coast team with a decent stadium.

 

[taste2taste]

Yes it could work, Super Rugby have been looking into the feasibility of having West Coast usa teams.

If the NRL were to do it the team would need to be 100% funded by its owner/s with no cost to the NRL

Toronoto had a similar deal with the Super League and were successful proir to covid derailing them.

 

[Canard]

Yes, Super Rugby is the model we should aspire to.

 

[taste2taste]

Yes, Super Rugby is the model we should aspire to.

For 20+ years Super Rugby successfully had teams from South Africa and Argentina. West Coast USA is not unimaginable, but only if someone else pays the bills.

I know you boomers dream of the good old days of Newtown and the Bears but they're long gone unfortunately.

 

[Canard]

For 20+ years Super Rugby successfully had teams from South Africa and Argentina. West Coast USA is not unimaginable, but only if someone else pays the bills.

I know you boomers dream of the good old days of Newtown and the Bears but they're long gone unfortunately.

The Jaguares competed in Super Rugby for 4 years.

South Africa were one of the founding members of Super Rugby and the most successful Union nation on the planet.

There is ZERO comparison here

 

[taste2taste]

The Jaguares competed in Super Rugby for 4 years.

South Africa were one of the founding members of Super Rugby and the most successful Union nation on the planet.

There is ZERO comparison here

You're totally missing my piont, I'm talking about the cost of running an OS team. Being a "founding member of Super Rugby " has ZERO comparisons here.

 

[Canard]

You're totally missing my piont, I'm talking about the cost of running an OS team. Being a "founding member of Super Rugby " has ZERO comparisons here.

It's still a resounding no

 

[Brian potter]

Hypothetical: we get to 2028, the NRL has been in Las Vegas for the past 5 years and the event just keeps growing. We have established a bit of a local following and the rest is just getting good at selling the event.

Would it be possible to set up a club based in South-West USA to compete in the NRL?

- The timezones work fairly well (USA saturday kickoff for a sunday broadcast in Sydney)
- flights might be tough but you could send a few teams over at once and have them stay for a few weeks (3 aus teams and the WC club could tour for 3-4 weeks of double-headers across a few cities;LV, LA, SD, etc)
- playing in summer could suck. Dont know how to solve that, but there might be space to get attention in the off seasons of the bigger sports

The downside would just be a failed club (we have seen those before and we survived) but the upside for the NRL and the game in general could be world-changing

What do you reckon?

Something to look at when the government handouts run out for the PNG NRL team.

 

[taste2taste]

It's still a resounding no

Just like Vegas was a resounding no ?

You take these boards far to seriously, we're not in a meeting with the CEO, more like shooting the sh#t at the pub.

 

[Diesel]

Hopefully this starts the interest of the mooted 10-team competition and somewhere in the future the WCC is like a mini tournament where you have teams from more than just two competitions playing

 

[Canard]

Just like Vegas was a resounding no ?

You take these boards far to seriously, we're not in a meeting with the CEO, more like shooting the sh#t at the pub.

Exactly.

That's why it's okay for someone to comment and/or disagree with your view, and not take it so personally.

Comparing SA Rugby to an NRL team in the States is bonkers.

 

[Vlad59]

Just like Vegas was a resounding no ?

You take these boards far to seriously, we're not in a meeting with the CEO, more like shooting the sh#t at the pub.

Don’t upset him. He’ll set Max onto you!

 

[Éamonn an Chnoic]

Yes it could work, Super Rugby have been looking into the feasibility of having West Coast usa teams.

If the NRL were to do it the team would need to be 100% funded by its owner/s with no cost to the NRL

Toronoto had a similar deal with the Super League and were successful proir to covid derailing them.

I reckon we would need to tie US tv revenue to funding the team.

If the NRL games go well into 2028, there would be some value to the tv rights. Do what we did with the storm (extra $8mil/pa ) to cover the travel costs

 

[Éamonn an Chnoic]

In a club first, the North Sydney Bears partnered with the Boston 13s RLFC in a move that saw the team play in the NRL Vegas 9’s tournament as the Boston Bears.

View attachment 84722

NS are already onto it!!

West Coast Bears 2028

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

At least it would be a west coast team with a decent stadium.

West Coast America > West Coast Pirates

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

It would be nice if the NRL and NFL worked together. There's an opportunity for teams with similar brands to work with one another. The seasons don't really compete with one another.