The Las Vegas Thread

[yakstorm]

The numbers are in.
371,000 watched Raiders Warriors on American free to air.

NRL matches were screened free-to-air in the US for the first time. Here’s how many tuned in

Live rugby league was beamed into American homes at the weekend as the NRL again took its season opener to Las Vegas.

www.smh.com.au

The WatchNRL numbers are pretty significant as well. Average audience of 29,000 for the Raiders v Warriors game shows the service subscription numbers have increased pretty significantly since last year where numbers were <20K.

I'd imagine there would have been people at Vegas who hold subscriptions as well, so there's possibly now 30Kish total subscribers now.

 

[Mother Nature's Son]

Indeed. He's no better than Wayne Carey really.

At least Adam Elliott only gave his mate`s fiancee a quick drunken pash when his mate was out of the room.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

There's an afl forum peanuts.

 

[Mother Nature's Son]

The WatchNRL numbers are pretty significant as well. Average audience of 29,000 for the Raiders v Warriors game shows the service subscription numbers have increased pretty significantly since last year where numbers were <20K.

I'd imagine there would have been people at Vegas who hold subscriptions as well, so there's possibly now 30Kish total subscribers now.

Yeah and here`s hoping that a percentage of the 403k (peak audience) who tuned into the games sign up now as well.

 

[Wb1234]

At least Adam Elliott only gave his mate`s fiancee a quick drunken pash when his mate was out of the room.

Pash of his knob lol

And et did a Carey with McGraw missus

 

[AdelaideSharky]

There's an afl forum peanuts.

I know that, just pointing the irony of a bloke sleeping with his best mate's missus then taking her to be his own to be calling anyone a knuckledragger is absolutely laughable at best and hypocritical at worst.

 

[Wb1234]

This will be one of the highest watched rugby games in nz this year

 

[Perth Red]

Cowboys def keen.

Want to see your Cowboys in Las Vegas?

We're calling on our supporters to let us know the level of interest in travel packages to the 2026 NRL Las Vegas event.

www.cowboys.com.au

 

[taste2taste]

Cowboys def keen.

Want to see your Cowboys in Las Vegas?

We're calling on our supporters to let us know the level of interest in travel packages to the 2026 NRL Las Vegas event.

www.cowboys.com.au

The nrl needs to do a deal with Vegas tourism/hotels to make the trip cheaper for fans.

If it’s true that this game generates 80m for Vegas then the NRL needs to drag vegas back to the negotiating table and get deals on accommodation, flights and maybe even throw in a free drink at the bar for the fans.

 

[taste2taste]

‘Stay the course’: do MLS’s anemic ratings in the Apple TV era matter?

It’s certainly strange that MLS apparently struggles to outdo pickleball in the broadcast TV ratings. But with a North American World Cup looming, there’s no reason for panic

www.theguardian.com

MLS final last year got 470k (down from over 800k lol) and nrl is already close to that figure

And their average is under 200k a game and their tv deal is 250 million pa

That’s what a tiny portion of the us sporting market is worth

If the nrl has similar ratings to the MLS can we go to Apple TV and ask for 250m ??

 

[chrisD]

I think there's reasonable enough accomodation options for different budgets, you can get 3 stars for under $500 AUD for 4 nights. Airfares are more limiting, the new airport may help with that in Sydney.

PVL could perhaps focus on fixing the AUD in his spare time.

 

[Warrimoo3]

I’ll give Peter V a tip for the NRL marketing department for next year’s Vegas extravaganza. Throw the chequebook at Jordan Mailata to do a 2 minute ad for Vegas 2026 to be played on Fox FTA cable starting just before the NFL playoffs up until Vegas and have it on loop. Something like:

Don’t get me wrong. My greatest sporting moment is winning the Super Bowl. But my biggest regret…not making the NRL.

Too slow they said
Cut to the Hammer chasing down the Fox from last year.

Too tall they said.
Cut to Trai Fuller scoring that try from halfway way against Manly last year with that chip and chase

At least I can watch the NRL this year on Fox cable free to air. Just don’t tell my coach.

 

[taste2taste]

I noticed on the smh website the bandana yawnion muppet has again bagged the Vegas venture without even mentioning his own sport in the article.

It’s not just Fitzy, the other smh union journo wrote an article yesterday saying Union was miles ahead of league in the USA.

that might be true, but someone should remind them when the MLR was shown on fox FTA it drew only 200k viewers

If you want to talk directly to fitzy his alias on these boards is @Maximus

 

[Wb1234]

If the has similar ratings to the MLS can we go to Apple TV and ask for 250m ??

Seriously jokes aside even if they got 20 million pa from America which included fta access for games that would be a huge boost for the nrl

Being mostly in the nfl offseason they can build up a dedicated fan base which even if it’s tiny by American standards would be massive for us

The nrl needs to stick with Vegas and not go to Wembley and start all over again

An origin in America and London would be massive one day

Nrl has to be the one to grow rugby league internationally since super league doesn’t have the money or critical mass to do so

 

[taste2taste]

I still reckon an NRL team in the US would be worth a shot. even is it folds, it would make an impression.

- Based in Hawaii: this wouldnt be all that much crazier than Perth (+1 mil population, different time zone long flight, no established local support) but with a much bigger upside

-Based on the West Coast: this would be the crazy one, but it would be insane if it works. If you could make this work, it’s straight up double the value of the competition.

Only way a professional North American team would be accepted to the nrl or SL is if they were 100% funded by someone else.

Toronto were incrediblly successful on the field, selling out their stadium before they were in SL and making the front page of the national news papers when they signed SBW.

Unfortunately they weren’t so successful financiallay.

 

[Gobsmacked]

Only way a professional North American team would be accepted to the nrl or SL is if they were 100% funded by someone else.

Toronto were incrediblly successful on the field, selling out their stadium before they were in SL and making the front page of the national news papers when they signed SBW.

Unfortunately they weren’t so successful financiallay.

I wish we could get Toronto back.. but while that doesn't look likely.
How about we play a fixture there though?
Around Origin ( their summer) 2 sides that have the bye the following week..

 

[titoelcolombiano]

He writes more articles about league than union these days which tells you who’s getting than marketing right.

Rugby League derangement syndrome

 

[titoelcolombiano]

A bloke who sleeps with his best mate's wife calling people knuckledraggers? Think Garry Lyon lives in a glasshouse to be throwing stones.

Do these millionaire footballers realise they can pay for their own families to fly out with them?

 

[Perth Red]

Would take a long term commitment and lots of $'s to get any traction in USA. Lets just accept it for what it is, and what is proving to be successful. A fun way to start that season that gets plenty of interest.

 

[Trifili13]

Don't know if this has been mentioned before or even tried by the NRL, but the NRL maybe should give a FTV operator and a pay TV or streamer free the whole season for a year to gauge interest in the game over there (assuming the NRL has the rights to do that or are they with Nine/Fox). This will allow the ARL to see the true level of interest that the American's have rather than a 1 off game that is heavily marketed.