Hawaii

[The Great Dane]

For about a decade now I've thought that Hawaii is the next big market outside of Aus and NZ that every major competition in the Pacific will target in the future, and that RU and RL in particular are in a race to be the first one to get there.

• Hawaii is the last big market in the Pacific that is culturally aligned with the West, it's got a solid economy with a strong TV market for the region, and there are a lot of people from, or associated with, Hawaii whom have shown interest in bringing pro sports to the islands.
  
• There're no major professional sports teams from Hawaii, which makes the University of Hawaii teams the only competition in the market, which is practically nothing for a market of 1.4 million people.
• It'll be decades before it's feasible for the major American competitions to expand to Hawaii, so as long as you get in before them they shouldn't be a major concern.
• It's got a large Pasifika population, which has a strong interest in connecting with and preserving it's Polynesian culture (to the point that they'll literally hijack other Polynesian culture's traditions), and also a low amount of opportunities to make it in professional sports. So there's huge potential to build a strong juniors base in Hawaii.

I could go on but you get the point.

As always RU has been forward thinking and got the jump on RL, and for years now there have been consortium that have tried to launch a Super Rugby club in Hawaii, the most recent of which is Kanaloa Hawaii, whom were one of several teams that bid to be the sixth team in Super Rugby Aotearoa next year and were knocked back by the NZRU.
Also, all of the RU bids from Hawaii aim for the club to be a "Pasifika club" that represents and gives opportunities to Polynesian players from outside of NZ and Aus, which isn't really the point of this post, but it's something to think about.

If the NRL were smart, and had the balls frankly, they'd be doing everything in there power to get into Hawaii before a major RU competition does, and for that to happen it means that they need to start planning for Hawaii to be part of the competition right now.

The NRL should be throwing their name around as interested in growth in Hawaii, and contacting different people in Hawaii (and the USA more broadly) that have shown an interest in owning a pro-sports team from the state, maybe even talk to Kanaloa Hawaii.
They should be doing everything in their power to get games between the Pasifika nations played in Honolulu regularly, and should be pushing to get them, and the NRL if possible, broadcast in Hawaii on a channel with good exposure (f**k the money, go for as much exposure as possible).

Finally, if they can figure the financials out ,and I accept that is a big if, then they should at least consider expanding to Hawaii as soon as possible, because if done right it would be the biggest thing to happen in the professional sports industry in our region for generations, and if we were to get in before RU it'd be the biggest coup for RL in living memory.

 

[Perth Red]

Too long a flight, Vlandys wont like it!

 

[Pippen94]

This is kinda like afl coming to Western Sydney saying they would attract players from indigenous community because we all know the connection to game. Unfortunately, they ignored existing connection to NRL.
Big Polynesian population but they play american football.

 

[Perth Tiger]

The Tigers proposed playing a pre season game there years ago but as with most things RL it came to nothing

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/we...ian-game-in-an-nrl-first-20160901-gr6d4z.html

 

[Perth Red]

This is kinda like afl coming to Western Sydney saying they would attract players from indigenous community because we all know the connection to game. Unfortunately, they ignored existing connection to NRL.
Big Polynesian population but they play american football.

Very few people actually get the chance to play american football as they get older. Once kids have finished high school if they arent good enough for the college side then they generally stop playing. Its a massive opportunity to find athletes after high school that give up on the game all together. There isnt a strong amateur american football system.

 

[The Great Dane]

This is kinda like afl coming to Western Sydney saying they would attract players from indigenous community because we all know the connection to game. Unfortunately, they ignored existing connection to NRL.
Big Polynesian population but they play american football.

How do you propose that we get them interested in RL then?

Because it seems to me that the only way to do that would be to introduce them to it ourselves, but you say that's a bad idea because reasons.

Good job the Pommies didn't share your mentality, otherwise RL probably never would have made it to Australia at all...

 

[The Great Dane]

Very few people actually get the chance to play american football as they get older. Once kids have finished high school if they arent good enough for the college side then they generally stop playing. Its a massive opportunity to find athletes after high school that give up on the game all together. There isnt a strong amateur american football system.

Same exodus happens after the collage.

Of the thousands and thousands of kids that play AF during their education, only a handful make it to be fulltime professional NFL players each year.

 

[Perth Red]

Same exodus happens after the collage.

Of the thousands and thousands of kids that play AF during their education, only a handful make it to be fulltime professional NFL players each year.

Yep, there is around 1million lads play football at high school. Of them only 73,000 go on to play college football and of them only 254 go on to be drafted into the NRL. There is a massive unwanted talent pool of american football players at 16 and at 22 that could pick up a Steeden.

America seems to have this weird mentality that if you dont make it at the top level then you should stop playing all together. probably why they are so fat!

 

[Pippen94]

How do you propose that we get them interested in RL then?

Because it seems to me that the only way to do that would be to introduce them to it ourselves, but you say that's a bad idea because reasons.

Good job the Pommies didn't share your mentality, otherwise RL probably never would have made it to Australia at all...

I'd prefer if somebody with insight into Hawaii & it's culture posted this topic. The mentality of saying to put team there because of Polynesian population is combination of stereotyping & fantasy

 

[The Great Dane]

I'd prefer if somebody with insight into Hawaii & it's culture posted this topic. The mentality of saying to put team there because of Polynesian population is combination of stereotyping & fantasy

How do you know that I'm not Hawaiian or that I don't have an insight on Hawaiian culture?

I also never said put a team there because of the Polynesian population, that's an enormous misrepresentation the point that you are trying to twist it from.

Why not answer the question instead of trying to twist a point about the potential to build a juniors base into some veiled racist comment.

 

[Pippen94]

How do you know that I'm not Hawaiian or that I don't have an insight on Hawaiian culture?

I also never said put a team there because of the Polynesian population, that's an enormous misrepresentation the point that you are trying to twist it from.

Why not answer the question instead of trying to twist a point about the potential to build a juniors base into some veiled racist comment.

Owning a Hawaiian shirt doesn't make you Hawaiian.

I don't know your background but suspect if you were connected to that region you'd offer more insight into sporting scene there & preference of locals. Certainly you'd know MLR is very close to getting a team up which was omission from your post.

Still think you picked Hawaii because of Polynesian population - Hong Kong would offer gateway to even bigger market but you don't mention that.

 

[Perth Red]

Owning a Hawaiian shirt doesn't make you Hawaiian.

I don't know your background but suspect if you were connected to that region you'd offer more insight into sporting scene there & preference of locals. Certainly you'd know MLR is very close to getting a team up which was omission from your post.

Still think you picked Hawaii because of Polynesian population - Hong Kong would offer gateway to even bigger market but you don't mention that.

given popularity of American football and the better physical genetics For contact sport of Hawaiians I’d think playing RL is an easier sell in Hawaii than in Hong Kong wouldn’t you?

 

[greenBV4]

For about a decade now I've thought that Hawaii is the next big market outside of Aus and NZ that every major competition in the Pacific will target in the future, and that RU and RL in particular are in a race to be the first one to get there.

• Hawaii is the last big market in the Pacific that is culturally aligned with the West, it's got a solid economy with a strong TV market for the region, and there are a lot of people from, or associated with, Hawaii whom have shown interest in bringing pro sports to the islands.
  
• There're no major professional sports teams from Hawaii, which makes the University of Hawaii teams the only competition in the market, which is practically nothing for a market of 1.4 million people.
• It'll be decades before it's feasible for the major American competitions to expand to Hawaii, so as long as you get in before them they shouldn't be a major concern.
• It's got a large Pasifika population, which has a strong interest in connecting with and preserving it's Polynesian culture (to the point that they'll literally hijack other Polynesian culture's traditions), and also a low amount of opportunities to make it in professional sports. So there's huge potential to build a strong juniors base in Hawaii.

I could go on but you get the point.

As always RU has been forward thinking and got the jump on RL, and for years now there have been consortium that have tried to launch a Super Rugby club in Hawaii, the most recent of which is Kanaloa Hawaii, whom were one of several teams that bid to be the sixth team in Super Rugby Aotearoa next year and were knocked back by the NZRU.
Also, all of the RU bids from Hawaii aim for the club to be a "Pasifika club" that represents and gives opportunities to Polynesian players from outside of NZ and Aus, which isn't really the point of this post, but it's something to think about.

If the NRL were smart, and had the balls frankly, they'd be doing everything in there power to get into Hawaii before a major RU competition does, and for that to happen it means that they need to start planning for Hawaii to be part of the competition right now.

The NRL should be throwing their name around as interested in growth in Hawaii, and contacting different people in Hawaii (and the USA more broadly) that have shown an interest in owning a pro-sports team from the state, maybe even talk to Kanaloa Hawaii.
They should be doing everything in their power to get games between the Pasifika nations played in Honolulu regularly, and should be pushing to get them, and the NRL if possible, broadcast in Hawaii on a channel with good exposure (f**k the money, go for as much exposure as possible).

Finally, if they can figure the financials out ,and I accept that is a big if, then they should at least consider expanding to Hawaii as soon as possible, because if done right it would be the biggest thing to happen in the professional sports industry in our region for generations, and if we were to get in before RU it'd be the biggest coup for RL in living memory.

Yes yes yes

Polynesian Hawaiians (as we have found out with the boom of pacific Island players) are the perfect build for RL, they just need to be introduced to the game

Hawaii is one of the few pacific Islands with a big economy and population

It would be a big step in development of USARL as players would be eligible for them in world cups

Would be a once in a lifetime opportunity for the NRL to get a step in front of not only its competitors but world sport as a whole

Sadly Vlandys is not the person to do this though, as last I checked Hawaii is not a suburb of either Sydney or Brisbane

 

[The Great Dane]

Owning a Hawaiian shirt doesn't make you Hawaiian.

I don't know your background but suspect if you were connected to that region you'd offer more insight into sporting scene there & preference of locals. Certainly you'd know MLR is very close to getting a team up which was omission from your post.

You mean Kanaloa Hawaii, you know the bid team I've mentioned multiple times, yeah the MLR knocked them back for 2021 and basically said try again another time, so they continued with their other bid to join Super Rugby Aotearoa, and they, along with the other bids, were told no for 2021 but maybe try again for 2022.

So much for the MLR being 'very close to getting a team up' hey, but besides the MLR will almost certainly go the same way that PRO Rugby went.

I gave as much insight about the sporting scene in Hawaii as was pertinent to the discussion, i.e. there's no pro clubs there, only the University of Hawaii teams, that a consortium is bidding for a RU license, and others have in past, and the major American leagues won't be expanding there anytime soon.

But if you want to talk about stuff that doesn't really matter in the context of this discussion then there's a bunch of other stuff I didn't mention as well; like RL has been played in Hawaii on and off for years, and there used to be an annual event called the Ohana Cup that was put on by local event organisers that saw RL teams of all sorts play as the main event. In 2015 the main event was Samoan vs Tonga which "around 8000" attended.

I also didn't mention that the Hawaiian Rugby League has been around for years. It's hard to find much information about them, but apparently they still exist because they are still supporting events at least in some capacity.

A Hawaiian consortium even tried to buy the Warriors a couple years back. Richard Fale, the head of the group, was pretty batshit.

Still think you picked Hawaii because of Polynesian population - Hong Kong would offer gateway to even bigger market but you don't mention that.

In the current political climate trying to do anything in China would be a ridiculous farce. Chasing blood money like that would be f**king despicable.

BTW, you still haven't answered the question!

 

[MrE_Assassin]

Hawaii is one of the few pacific Islands with a big economy and population

Actually, Hawaii's economy isn't that great. Housing is almost double that of the mainland US on average, power is about three-times more expensive, there isn't the same level of corporate investment (outside of tourism which is a bust at the moment) as mainland US. Unemployment was at 2.7% pre-COVID but now sits at about 13.9% (again, tourism is bust). Day to day living is more expensive than the mainland as well due to taxation, shipping costs and other impacts of being isolated on an island. There is also a high rate of homelessness in Hawaii as well (2019: 44.9 people in every 10,000, compared to the national average of 17 per 10,000 people)

Probably far from a viable option for any sport at this stage.

 

[greenBV4]

Actually, Hawaii's economy isn't that great. Housing is almost double that of the mainland US on average, power is about three-times more expensive, there isn't the same level of corporate investment (outside of tourism which is a bust at the moment) as mainland US. Unemployment was at 2.7% pre-COVID but now sits at about 13.9% (again, tourism is bust). Day to day living is more expensive than the mainland as well due to taxation, shipping costs and other impacts of being isolated on an island. There is also a high rate of homelessness in Hawaii as well (2019: 44.9 people in every 10,000, compared to the national average of 17 per 10,000 people)

Probably far from a viable option for any sport at this stage.

Compared to mainland US yeah, but compared to other pacific Islands the statement is still true

 

[RedVee]

I agree that it would be a wonderful addition to RL.
The only negative would be if there is an attempt for national games (eventually Tests) under the Hawaii name.
It may be good for local interest if a Pacific Cup game was played there annually.

Eventually the “Big Island Orca’s” in the Qld Cup then on to the NRL

 

[greenBV4]

I agree that it would be a wonderful addition to RL.
The only negative would be if there is an attempt for national games (eventually Tests) under the Hawaii name.
It may be good for local interest if a Pacific Cup game was played there annually.

Eventually the “Big Island Orca’s” in the Qld Cup then on to the NRL

I know they compete as Hawaiians in surfing (due to the relevence of the sport and the islands) but didnt know this existed in other sports, Hawaiian surfers will compete for the US in the Olympics despite not doing so in the WSL

I think any future Hawaiian RL players wouldnt have an issue playing for the US in world cups, but this doesnt mean they can;t also have a seperate team for pacific cups if they wished (similar to GB/England)

 

[siv]

We need a Pacifika Cup league

Teams from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Hawaii, Cook Is

 

[The Great Dane]

We need a Pacifika Cup league

Teams from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Hawaii, Cook Is

Where's the money for that going to come from lol.