The Las Vegas Thread

[Perth Red]

If Hull go to Vegas will we see Perth Red there also ?

More than likely, if I can convince the Mrs!

 

[Gobsmacked]

HKR allegedly put in a bid to be there in 2026:
Hull Kingston Rovers have presented a compelling proposal for a Las Vegas fixture next year. Furthermore, our source confirms the proposal has received near-unanimous approval, with details to be announced in the coming weeks. (Source: RL fans Facebook)

Leigh owner was at Vegas no doubt checking out if he should bid for Leigh to be there.
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Too bad you're against the Vegas concept..

 

[Perth Red]

Too bad you're against the Vegas concept..

Why? Id be going to get pssed, see Vegas and support my club, not the event.
If I was going as a neutral, which i wouldn't, it would be different matter.

 

[kurt faulk]

Why? Id be going to get pssed, see Vegas and support my club, not the event.
If I was going as a neutral, which i wouldn't, it would be different matter.

I'm @Gobsmacked by this reply.

.

 

[Wb1234]

TikTok - Make Your Day

I’ve done a U-turn and think they should stay at four games

The outcry from the women will convince Pvl

The jillaroos were actually good to watch and it’s not like the super league game wasn’t a blowout either

With no nz warriors next year to worry about the two nrl games can go back to 2 pm and 4 pm

 

[i0Nic]

Nope it's just too many games. I doubt they'll stick to 4 games next year. I think they should axe the ESL as well.

 

[i0Nic]

Market the womens game differently as opposed to a tack-on to Mens.

For example, hold another event focused on the womens with an NRLW / SOO / International double header, a junior / 9s comp, grassroots stuff etc. Doesn't have to be at Allegiant stadium and doesn't have to be at the same time as the mens.

 

[Perth Red]

TikTok - Make Your Day

I’ve done a U-turn and think they should stay at four games

The outcry from the women will convince Pvl

The jillaroos were actually good to watch and it’s not like the super league game wasn’t a blowout either

With no nz warriors next year to worry about the two nrl games can go back to 2 pm and 4 pm

Comes down to a decision of: Do we want to showcase that women play RL at a good standard (presumably to try and attract more females to play the game) or do we want to maximise ticket sales and atmosphere?
If the former have Aus v NZ (W) or a NRLW game (ideally featuring the same sides as in one of the mens game).
If the latter invite 4 SL clubs.

 

[Wb1234]

Comes down to a decision of: Do we want to showcase that women play RL at a good standard (presumably to try and attract more females to play the game) or do we want to maximise ticket sales and atmosphere?
If the former have Aus v NZ (W) or a NRLW game (ideally featuring the same sides as in one of the mens game).
If the latter invite 4 SL clubs.

4 super league clubs is overkill and there aren’t enough good clubs in super league where it will be the same clubs going every year

Women’s origin or nrlw gf rematch

And people say they were out of season they were out of season on Sunday too

Women should get a chance on that big stage just not in between the nrl games

 

[yakstorm]

The question the NRL needs to first ask is who is this event for? Is it to maximise viewership back here in Australia/NZ (and potentially UK)? Is it to try and showcase the sport to the US? Is it about the fans attending? Or something else?

Depending on who is the primary target will determine the number of teams and the structure. For example, if it's about TV audiences back in A/NZ then the two NRL games need to be at around that 7pm (2pm Sydney) & 9pm (4pm Sydney) time slots.

If they want to include Super League, the latest that game can be played is 1:30pm (9:30pm UK) to have any real impact back home, so to achieve those two goals, so you might as well put a Women's game in-between, cause otherwise there is too big of a gap.

If the aim is more about making it in the US, well then you want an NRL game kicking off sometime between 4pm-5pm local game (7pm-8pm ET), as it is prime time. But then you have to bring the other NRL game forward or you have to shove something else in-between (like they did this year).

If it's about those in Vegas, starting at 1pm and running 3 games back to back, so everything is wrapped up by 7pm local, is arguably the optimal. Night life in Vegas has a lot of competition, so making it easy for everyone to get to the NRL and then go to whatever shows, etc they may want to do.

If it's about showcasing the sport, then the earlier timeslots also work well in terms of getting maximum viewers and more likely being able to get coverage on FTA.

Reality is, the NRL can't have it all. They tried it this year, and as they saw it doesn't work. Even if the Jillaroos v England game was a thriller, most people aren't going to watch more than 3 games at a ground. Even with Magic, we see most fans watch just over 2 games.

It's a shame Vegas doesn't have a smaller, say 20K rectangular stadium, nearby. Then you could have say the Women's game being played on Friday night (Saturday afternoon back in Australia) as a lead in event.

 

[i0Nic]

Yep the NRL thought they had a clever schedule this year that could cater to the US, UK, AU and NZ but it was a miss. Pick one or two goals not try to achieve all.

 

[kurt faulk]

.

The superleague game is here to stay. Apparently they had record attendances to their games the first couple of rounds this season, just like the nrl last season.

These Vegas games have supercharged both competitions.

And there are people still asking why are the nrl are doing Vegas.

.

 

[Jetka100]

I would rather see them grow the women’s game by giving them their own grand final weekend before the men’s grand final.

 

[blue bags]

Yeah as much as it was great having the English supporters I think the the focus should be NRL. You want people to walk away with a clear and focused message - watch nrl for the best rugby competition in the world.

With the super league and an international they tried to push a lot of different messages. It would be confusing for people unfamiliar to the sport.

The more I think about it the more I think it should be 3 games… 1 NRLW and 2 NRL that’s it.

Maybe the nrl can think of another way to get more involved with super league, but I think it’s just a bit too much and too confusing for Vegas.

What about playing indigenous All Star Game

 

[The Great Dane]

Nobody here will admit it, but adding the two extra games to the Vegas schedule is massive mistake.

Most avid RL fans won't be interested in sticking around for 10 hours of football, so I can't imagine that many Yanks without much investment in the sport will be interested in making that kind of time investment at all. That'll lead to a patchy crowd of people only showing up to watch the match they're interested in then leaving, which will look bad on TV and make a bad impression for American audiences. It'll also make the event a much harder sell to most potential American attendees and absolutely screw the ratings in the US (and Canada?) by spreading the viewership out over a 10 hour slot (if they're all being broadcast?).

The added games will undoubtably necessitate a jump in prices as well, and frankly the two games they've added aren't going to push tickets to the target audience in AUS, NZ, and America (I couldn't give less of a f**k about the English audience). I'm sorry but next to nobody is traveling to the other side of the planet to watch a women's international or ESL, which is why they've been tacked onto the Vegas event instead of being made into their own events in the US.

If there wasn't enough demand to justify renting the venue over two days, or spreading the event over multiple venues, then there wasn't enough demand to justify adding more games full stop.

If they block the NRL games together the majority of the crowd would just show up for those two games, which would be a terrible look.

Putting the women's game in-between the two NRL games forces anybody who wants to watch both NRL games to sit through the Test as well, which gives it an artificial boost to it's crowd.

The ESL game being first is because it's in the worst broadcast slot in Australia. Despite Jills v Ferns being the better matchup on paper, they've chosen to include the Lionesses over the Ferns in the hopes that'll convince a larger portion of the ESL fans to stick around for that game as well.

Put simply they know that very few people are going to sit through the whole roughly 10 hour event, so they're spreading the matches out in such way to try and keep the stadium looking as full as possible for as long as possible.

BTW, the RL Lionesses sharing a name with the women's national football team (i.e. the real Lionesses) is stupid even by English RL standards. It'd be completely screwing their marketing.

July 10th last year and I was bang on the money.

Again people here won't admit it, but the two extra games only increasing the attendance by 5k and the stadium never cracking 50% capacity on the day is a bad fumble by the NRL. It's a terrible look if the goal is to sell the sport to American spectators and investors.

The problem the NRL has now is that cutting both the extra games would be admitting the mistake publicly, which would result in a bad PR hit. They'll be able to get away with knocking the women's game off, but 3 games on game day is still pushing it and in commercial terms the poms brought nothing to the table but higher expenses, unearned bravado, and a bunch of unsolicited advice on how the NRL should run it's affairs.

How the NRL goes about fixing it depends on what the NRL's goal is with the Las Vegas games, but that would require them to have a clear goal, which I don't think they do at this point.

I mean is the goal still to attract interest for American sports betting companies? I don't know, but they're going about it in an extremely strange way if it is.

More and more it's looking like a decadent, all expenses paid, preseason jolly for the NRL and media personalities that will leave no lasting legacy or impact for the sport.

 

[The Great Dane]

BTW, the dumbest thing they could do is add the WCC to the Vegas card next year.

That'd kill what little interest there is left in the WCC as an independent product in Australia, and increase costs and take up precious space in the TV slot in America with little return to show for it.

I've said it a million times, but the WCC needs to go away for a bit so people can learn to miss it. Then it needs to come back in Aus/NZ for a few years to build up it's prestige and product awareness in the southern hemisphere, before reverting to a schedule that alternates between the hemispheres yearly at neutral venues. But I digress.

 

[i0Nic]

NRL should just focus on two simple goals for this:

1. Grow the profile of the game in us. In turn attracting fans, players, viewers, sponsors and gambling

2. A destination event, hyped up launch in AU with massive attention.

My approach would be:

- Promote NRL brand, not rugby league. 2x nrl games and drop esl and womens
- Introduce an always on marketing approach for nrl in the US. Get games on tv regularly. Build sister club relationships. Get influencers on board posting content through out the nrl season.
- invest and build grassroots and local comps
- Have 2x games at time slots that suit US and AU (5pm and 7pm kick off).
- As a consolation to ESL introduce a new event that brings nrl and esl together in a different way. Maybe a reboot of the WCC or something. Alternate it with the World Cup (champions league style comp maybe with the top 4 or 6 teams, maybe introduce a wild card team like an international team like Lebanon or something)

 

[AlwaysGreen]

What about the Jillaroos v the Super League champions? Almost an even contest, especially as the women will be in their off season so short of a gallop.

 

[Jamberoo]

The question the NRL needs to first ask is who is this event for? Is it to maximise viewership back here in Australia/NZ (and potentially UK)? Is it to try and showcase the sport to the US? Is it about the fans attending? Or something else?

Depending on who is the primary target will determine the number of teams and the structure. For example, if it's about TV audiences back in A/NZ then the two NRL games need to be at around that 7pm (2pm Sydney) & 9pm (4pm Sydney) time slots.

If they want to include Super League, the latest that game can be played is 1:30pm (9:30pm UK) to have any real impact back home, so to achieve those two goals, so you might as well put a Women's game in-between, cause otherwise there is too big of a gap.

If the aim is more about making it in the US, well then you want an NRL game kicking off sometime between 4pm-5pm local game (7pm-8pm ET), as it is prime time. But then you have to bring the other NRL game forward or you have to shove something else in-between (like they did this year).

If it's about those in Vegas, starting at 1pm and running 3 games back to back, so everything is wrapped up by 7pm local, is arguably the optimal. Night life in Vegas has a lot of competition, so making it easy for everyone to get to the NRL and then go to whatever shows, etc they may want to do.

If it's about showcasing the sport, then the earlier timeslots also work well in terms of getting maximum viewers and more likely being able to get coverage on FTA.

Reality is, the NRL can't have it all. They tried it this year, and as they saw it doesn't work. Even if the Jillaroos v England game was a thriller, most people aren't going to watch more than 3 games at a ground. Even with Magic, we see most fans watch just over 2 games.

It's a shame Vegas doesn't have a smaller, say 20K rectangular stadium, nearby. Then you could have say the Women's game being played on Friday night (Saturday afternoon back in Australia) as a lead in event.

Surely it is clear to all that It is simply about launching the NRL season with as much fanfare and publicity and positivity as possible. So far, it has done a brilliant job. I think it works even with 45k in Vegas but I am not sure if that is sustainable once every team and their supporters have been.

New York and London would work from a crowd point of view, but the time difference means those cities don’t work at all.

Japan? https://www.stadium2002.com/en/
Hawaii is building a new 30k stadium.

PVL has three years to think of something else.

 

[Perth Red]

BTW, the dumbest thing they could do is add the WCC to the Vegas card next year.

That'd kill what little interest there is left in the WCC as an independent product in Australia, and increase costs and take up precious space in the TV slot in America with little return to show for it.

I've said it a million times, but the WCC needs to go away for a bit so people can learn to miss it. Then it needs to come back in Aus/NZ for a few years to build up it's prestige and product awareness in the southern hemisphere, before reverting to a schedule that alternates between the hemispheres yearly at neutral venues. But I digress.

SL winning it 2 years in row should give it the boost in interest as a legit contest it needs. Missing this year is a faux pas at a time that they could have kept building it.