The Las Vegas Thread

[Iamback]

You'd be suprised by how little presence the NRL has in the England also, particularly in the South.

This is true but the WCC last year rated 226k in England. There is a base there already, sure it needs to be built on but the game in the UK.

The US is 2 or 3 steps further back again

 

[yakstorm]

The biggest barrier to the NRL trying to do matches in both the UK & US is the timezones don't line up nicely with Australia at the same time.

If the NRL tried to play a game at say Wembley in a broadcaster friendly timeslot in the opening round, they'd be kicking off very early at 9am London time (8pm Sydney) or would need Fox/Nine to be ok for a morning timeslot (10pm UK is 9am Sydney).

Mid year becomes slightly better with timeslots moving 2 hrs (so 11am match in London is 8pm Sydney time), but that also happens with the US, making it harder to get a TV friendly timeslot.

If Vegas is successful, maybe the NRL would be prepared to negotiate with the broadcasters to allow them to play 1 match at a non friendly hour, though I reckon they might try somewhere in Asia before they'd try Europe.

 

[MugaB]

They should focus on Vegas

but potential other places

1. Wembley
2. Dubai

Wembley would sell out no problems but going to London isn’t as appealing as going to Vegas but the game in England would get a massive boost

You'd think to put it in an area RL is stronger for England, somewhere up north

 

[Wb1234]

You'd think to put it in an area RL is stronger for England, somewhere up north

Best international crowds are in London

London sells out nfl regualrly

Manchester has the grand final

London would get the most media

 

[Iamback]

You'd think to put it in an area RL is stronger for England, somewhere up north

Dubai is a new market. Depends how bold they want to go

 

[Wb1234]

Dubai is a new market. Depends how bold they want to go

Or Qatar

one of them was going to bid for the rlwc that went to France

 

[jim_57]

The biggest barrier to the NRL trying to do matches in both the UK & US is the timezones don't line up nicely with Australia at the same time.

If the NRL tried to play a game at say Wembley in a broadcaster friendly timeslot in the opening round, they'd be kicking off very early at 9am London time (8pm Sydney) or would need Fox/Nine to be ok for a morning timeslot (10pm UK is 9am Sydney).

Mid year becomes slightly better with timeslots moving 2 hrs (so 11am match in London is 8pm Sydney time), but that also happens with the US, making it harder to get a TV friendly timeslot.

If Vegas is successful, maybe the NRL would be prepared to negotiate with the broadcasters to allow them to play 1 match at a non friendly hour, though I reckon they might try somewhere in Asia before they'd try Europe.

That’s the major stumbling block with England admittedly, it would have to be at a weird time for the people attending or a shit time for broadcast in Australia. The former being the more likely compromise. More complicated again if it’s a double header.

 

[ColdWetPanther]

That’s the major stumbling block with England admittedly, it would have to be at a weird time for the people attending or a shit time for broadcast in Australia. The former being the more likely compromise. More complicated again if it’s a double header.

Doubt you would get a big crowd in London with an early (late morning start). Not only is it generally unfriendly time zone for sport, but many of the people who would come to the game would come from up north and it would be difficult to get there. A midday start (which they do in the EPL when there are rivalry matches to limit the booze drunk beforehand) is a potential goer for somewhere like Old Trafford.

 

[The Great Dane]

Yeah London can pull a crowd for an international, but there's a big difference between internationals and a club game between two teams from the opposite side of the world that most of the population's never heard of.

Sure the NFL pulls good crowds, hell there'd probably already be at least one NFL side in England by now if they didn't have to worry about competition balancing issues and other factors, but the NFL is a powerhouse with cultural relevance that the NRL simply can't compete with.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that NRL matches in England, or the UK more broadly, couldn't or wouldn't work, in fact I think they could be reasonably successful if you organised and marketed them well, but it wouldn't be the sure thing that many seem to think either.

 

[jim_57]

Yeah London can pull a crowd for an international, but there's a big difference between internationals and a club game between two teams from the opposite side of the world that most of the population's never heard of.

Sure the NFL pulls good crowds, hell there'd probably already be at least one NFL side in England by now if they didn't have to worry about competition balancing issues and other factors, but the NFL is a powerhouse with cultural relevance that the NRL simply can't compete with.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that NRL matches in England, or the UK more broadly, couldn't or wouldn't work, in fact I think they could be reasonably successful if you organised and marketed them well, but it wouldn't be the sure thing that many seem to think either.

Yeh I’d be wary of the NRL going straight for Wembley or Old Trafford, those are the 2 most well known but 90k or even 75k is a stretch when Super League can’t fill either anymore and the NRL can’t draw that in Australia outside of the Grand Final or occasional prelim.

Plenty of 50-60k options in London or the North. Tottenham, Arsenal, ManCity, Anfield or the new Everton stadium the obvious ones.

 

[Perth Red]

I think people have an over inflated opinion of how much interest there is in nrl in England.I could see origin doing well as a novelty, especially if held in London with all the bar staff.

 

[The Great Dane]

Yeh I’d be wary of the NRL going straight for Wembley or Old Trafford, those are the 2 most well known but 90k or even 75k is a stretch when Super League can’t fill either anymore and the NRL can’t draw that in Australia outside of the Grand Final or occasional prelim.

Plenty of 50-60k options in London or the North. Tottenham, Arsenal, ManCity, Anfield or the new Everton stadium the obvious ones.

I'd be wary of 50-60k options as well. Just turning the lights on in any of those stadiums would be expensive, and I doubt you'd see similar industry, business, or political support for the matches like you're seeing in Vegas. There wouldn't be any gambling side hustle like there is in the US either. Put simply the business plans of these matches would have to stand on their own two feet as events for it to be worth the NRL's time.

The NRL would probably be better off selling out in slightly smaller venues, say 30-35k, then banking on the English RL fanbase to show up in force only to strike out in larger venues. I mean it's not like we don't have some relevant data on the potential drawing power of NRL sides in England, and for the most part the WCC hasn't exactly been a big draw for quite a while now and you wouldn't be able to bank on the fanbase of SL clubs to fill out the crowd.

The NRL would have to be capable of drawing from a broader audience locally than just the English RL fanbase if NRL games in England were going to be a sustainable long term success, and that'd be pushing shit uphill with the NRL and sport's brand awareness and exposure in the UK outside of the M62.

 

[taste2taste]

I can't see any benefit in playing games in England, London is Union territory, league rarely draws a crowd and I think Northerners ( is that a word ? ) would prefer to spend thier hard earned on watching thier own team.

Ben Te'o, former England Rugby Union international, former NRL player and former target of journalist hack Danny Wielder, believes Japan would be a huge success for future NRL games.

France could be good too, it would certainly help boost the profile of the Elite 1

 

[Titanic]

northerner, a real word​

noun

/ˈnɔːðənə(r)/

/ˈnɔːrðərnər/

1. a person who comes from or lives in the northern part of a country
2. also known as northman (pl. northmen)
3. a citizen of the region built 8 thousand years ago by Bran the Builder
4. an inhabitant of the capital city Winterfell

northerner noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

Definition of northerner noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com

 

[The Great Dane]

I can't see any benefit in playing games in England, London is Union territory, league rarely draws a crowd and I think Northerners ( is that a word ? ) would prefer to spend thier hard earned on watching thier own team.

Ben Te'o, former England Rugby Union international, former NRL player and former target of journalist hack Danny Wielder, believes Japan would be a huge success for future NRL games.

France could be good too, it would certainly help boost the profile of the Elite 1

England would be a much easier sell than France. France would be a disaster if we accept your reasoning and that England would flop.

Japan might work if the NRL could get in bed with the right people beforehand, but that's much easier said than done. Without local corporate and media support it'd be commercial suicide.

 

[Canard]

It seems that most of this discussion is assuming that Vegas is or will be an outstanding success.

 

[Wb1234]

I can't see any benefit in playing games in England, London is Union territory, league rarely draws a crowd and I think Northerners ( is that a word ? ) would prefer to spend thier hard earned on watching thier own team.

Ben Te'o, former England Rugby Union international, former NRL player and former target of journalist hack Danny Wielder, believes Japan would be a huge success for future NRL games.

France could be good too, it would certainly help boost the profile of the Elite 1

A double header would have zero problems selling out Wembley

 

[Perth Red]

I'd be wary of 50-60k options as well. Just turning the lights on in any of those stadiums would be expensive, and I doubt you'd see similar industry, business, or political support for the matches like you're seeing in Vegas. There wouldn't be any gambling side hustle like there is in the US either. Put simply the business plans of these matches would have to stand on their own two feet as events for it to be worth the NRL's time.

The NRL would probably be better off selling out in slightly smaller venues, say 30-35k, then banking on the English RL fanbase to show up in force only to strike out in larger venues. I mean it's not like we don't have some relevant data on the potential drawing power of NRL sides in England, and for the most part the WCC hasn't exactly been a big draw for quite a while now and you wouldn't be able to bank on the fanbase of SL clubs to fill out the crowd.

The NRL would have to be capable of drawing from a broader audience locally than just the English RL fanbase if NRL games in England were going to be a sustainable long term success, and that'd be pushing shit uphill with the NRL and sport's brand awareness and exposure in the UK outside of the M62.

Or the kangaroos could do an Ashes tour!

 

[Perth Red]

It seems that most of this discussion is no assuming that Vegas is or will be an outstanding success.

Considering less than 30k have been sold, and apparently most of them to Australians going for A holiday it’s a long way from proving that yet, especially in year 3 when the holiday novelty has worn off.

 

[Perth Red]

A double header would have zero problems selling out Wembley

You make me laugh. There’s only so many nsw and qlnd bar staff in London,