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The Las Vegas Thread

footy75

footy75

Bench
Messages
3,081
Greenstar5 said:
Titans CEO said on SENQ they are pushing to go next year, but would want to be an away team. They didn't want to give away any more home games, currently at 1 to Magic Round.

My guess for 2027 - Melbourne, Redcliffe, Parramatta, Gold Coast.

Wests Tigers to get round 1 bye thanks to AI.
Click to expand...

Parra Melbourne Broncos Souths always be good
 
BuffaloRules

BuffaloRules

Coach
Messages
18,248
W

Wb1234

Immortal
Messages
48,868

With renegotiations with the Nevada tourism body going on now they need to be paying more than than the 2 million they currently pay to 5 million usd

This would allow English clubs to be compensated for losing a home game and their travel costs and ensure the arl makes 5 to 10 million from the event



“Peter V’landys walked away from his initial meeting with Las Vegas tourism bosses convinced they thought he was “wacko” wanting to bring rugby league to Sin City.
On that ground-breaking visit in 2022, the ARL Commission chairman and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo knew they were presenting a sport and a left-field concept that was foreign to decision makers in the world’s sports and entertainment capital.

But the vision of playing to packed stands at the state of the art Allegiant Stadium, home to newly arrived NFL franchise the Las Vegas Raiders, was an even harder sell than they first imagined.

“Andrew and I walked in,” V’landys tells The Saturday Telegraph. “They looked at us and thought ‘you two guys are wacko … as though you’re going to get even 1000 or 2000 Australians here’.

“I walked out of that meeting and said to Andrew, ‘mate we’ve got to prove these people wrong’.

“When we went to see Allegiant Stadium, the people there also looked at us strangely. It didn’t go well. They clearly thought ‘these guys are wasting our time … we had Ed Sheeran here last week’.”

Eighteen months later V’landys and Abdo were back, along with 40,000 fans, for the opening Vegas salvo.

Peter V'landys said his first meeting with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors
Last year the crowd grew to 45,000 as a massive contingent of supporters from Australia and the UK descended on this iconic city in the middle of the Nevada desert.

On Sunday, the number of travelling fans will swell even further, setting new attendee records for Australia (20,000), the UK (10,000) and other non-US nations (4000).

Together with domestic arrivals for the two NRL matches involving the Bulldogs, Dragons, Cowboys and Knights, and a Super League clash between Hull KR and Leeds, the Allegiant Stadium crowd figure is set to ratchet up again.

“Look at them now,” V’landys said of the Las Vegan movers and shakers. “They bring a red carpet out. It’s a big difference.”

The Vegas deal has another two years to run after this third instalment. But the NRL is already planning how best to leverage the tourism benefits it has delivered the Vegas economy.

In year one they added $US77 million to the city’s coffers. Last year it was a tick over $US100m. An increase, if slightly less dramatic, is expected from the 2026 promotion.

Suddenly Miami is also interested in hosting NRL games. There has been talk of Nashville.

Neither is fixated on the world’s best rugby league players. The fans with tourism dollars is what they crave.

It has the NRL in a strong negotiating position as Vegas make clear they want to extend the existing host city contract by another five years to 2033.

While the NRL will not shift the tourism dial substantially, any green shoots are a plus for Vegas at present. In 2025, visitation numbers dropped 7.5 per cent to 38.5m, compared to 41.7m in 2024.

Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Barkley, with a thinly veiled shot at US President Donald Trump’s administration, told this

masthead: “To be perfectly candid, one of the reasons is, you can’t ... bad mouth the rest of the world.

“A large proportion of our tourism base came from Canada, and if you keep insulting the Canadians what a surprise if they’re not coming to Las Vegas.

“We also had a little slump because we were beginning to forget that we needed to provide affordable vacations for people.”
In 2025, 45,000 fans packed Allegiant Stadium for the opening round

Australia is currently the No.2 “overseas” tourism source market for Vegas, behind the UK. It is No.4 when North American neighbours Canada and Mexico are included.

Now the NRL has given civic leaders compelling reasons to court the sport and drive further Australian visitation.

“They look at us differently now,” V’landys said. “They really want to sign a long term agreement. There’s 20,000 Australians here, and we’re a key overseas tourism market.

“Coming to Vegas has given us a benchmark. Other cities are not going to look at us blankly. We’ve got runs on the board, and that’s important.”
Vegas will be tough to beat as a destination heading into the future.

The next couple of years will see the city become an even more entrenched sporting mecca with Major League Baseball and NBA teams set to join the existing portfolio of NFL and National Hockey League franchises.

Qantas will also be introducing from next year direct flights from Sydney, carving up to five hours off the existing one-stop route.

For V’landys and Abdo there are still goals to achieve, all revenue-related, despite the successes to date.

They want to crack the lucrative US wagering market – where better to do it than from Las Vegas – and continue to drive subscribers to the Watch NRL streaming service.

Toowoomba mum Pam Miller with son Callam Bushell and his carer Nick Hewitt are among the thousands of excited NRL fans who have headed to Las Vegas.

Toowoomba mum Pam Miller with son Callam Bushell and his carer Nick Hewitt are among the thousands of excited NRL fans who have headed to Las

Early critics of the Vegas venture argued how year one was a loss maker. They continue to suggest the game will never get a substantial foothold in a country where homegrown professional leagues are billed as having “world championship” status.

But the NRL look at a country of almost 340 million people and realise that even one third of one per cent penetration would deliver a fan base of more than 1 million.

“These things don’t happen overnight,” V’landys said. “You’ve got to go the distance. A lot of people give up halfway through a strategy. We won’t, and the longer we go, the more successful it will be.

“But the other thing that Vegas has done, which we didn’t expect and it’s really a bonus, is the impetus it’s provided us back in Australia.

“Everybody knows the first round is in Vegas. They’re now having Vegas parties.”
Crucially they are also putting eyeballs on broadcasts back in Australia.

“In the first year here we had the highest ever round of rugby league viewership,” V’landys added.

“That gave us momentum. Those viewers that watched the first round stayed on for the rest of the year. It increased our audience substantially.

Experience during last year’s Vegas round. Picture: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
“It’s like a 100-metre sprinter getting out of the blocks. If you don’t get out quickly enough, you’re not going to win the race.
“It’s the same with us. What we hadn’t been doing in previous years was getting out of the blocks. Now we fly out because of Vegas.

“Basically it’s captured the imagination of sports followers in Australia.”

V’landys and Abdo also addressed finances, and why indirect benefits need to be considered alongside the expense of putting on the show.

“Look, in the first year, it certainly cost us, but it didn’t cost us anywhere near $15m (as had been suggested),” V’landys said.
“I think it was around $1m, which is a great investment because that $1m gave us record viewership for that whole year. So you couldn’t buy that … it’s worth tens of millions of dollars.

“Last year, we made a profit, and this year we’re going to make a multi-million dollar profit.”

A far cry from that first visit with the Vegas tourism authority“
 
Last edited:
BuffaloRules

BuffaloRules

Coach
Messages
18,248
yakstorm said:
He's just trying to justify the fact he's in Vegas. I mean there is no legitimate reason why the PNG Sports Minister would need to fly to Vegas to meet Abdo & PVL, when the same meeting could take place a week later in Australia.
Click to expand...

He would be getting a free ride on the NRLs dime over there like plenty of others seem to be …. I also doubt he has to answer to anyone at home about what he does
 
newc18

newc18

Juniors
Messages
901
Greenstar5 said:
Titans CEO said on SENQ they are pushing to go next year, but would want to be an away team. They didn't want to give away any more home games, currently at 1 to Magic Round.

My guess for 2027 - Melbourne, Redcliffe, Parramatta, Gold Coast.

Wests Tigers to get round 1 bye thanks to AI.
Click to expand...
I think that's fair. If you're already a home game at Magic Round, then you shouldn't be the home game at Vegas as well.
 
Desert Qlder

Desert Qlder

First Grade
Messages
9,997

Rugby league breaks new ground with record overseas sales for Las Vegas opener​

Rugby league has achieved record overseas ticket sales for its Las Vegas season opener, with fans from all 50 US states also purchasing passes for the weekend spectacular.

Rugby league has broken new ground in its great American adventure with record ticket sales to overseas fans for the weekend’s NRL season opener.

Game day passes have also been purchased across all 50 US states as NRL officials hold high expectations of another crowd increase for the third instalment of the code’s Las Vegas invasion.

Latest data shows 20,000 tickets bought in Australia, 10,000 in the UK and 4000 from other non-US destinations – creating benchmark numbers in all three categories.

A further 11,000 tickets need to be sold domestically in America to topple last year’s Allegiant Stadium crowd of 45,209 which was up from 40,746 in 2024.

While progressive US sales numbers have not been released, the NRL has confirmed buyers in every state have snapped up tickets.

Nevada – home to Las Vegas – leads the way with 22 per cent of all purchases to date within the US.

Neighbouring California accounts for 17 per cent followed by New York (5.5 per cent), Texas (4.5 per cent), Florida (3.9 per cent) and Arizona (3.8 per cent).

Expats will represent a high proportion of those flooding Vegas from other parts of the country and from a raft of locations outside the US including the Cayman Islands, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Germany, South Korea, the Netherlands, Hungary, Sweden, Singapore, Afghanistan and Cyprus.

The Sunday (AEDT) spectacular at the home ground of the Las Vegas Raiders NFL franchise will feature two NRL matches – Bulldogs v Dragons and Knights v Cowboys – and a Super League encounter between Hull KR and Leeds.

Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley spoke to this masthead while preparing to deliver the opening remarks at a Business of Sport seminar organised as part of the week-long activities associated with the NRL visit to Sin City.

“I am so excited, the fact that we’ve got so many people from Australia making their way to Las Vegas … we’re thrilled,” the 75-year-old former Congresswoman said.

“We decided a long time ago that as a community we couldn’t be 100 per cent dependant on the gaming industry.
“As much as I love it and worked in it for quite a while as a gaming attorney, we felt we needed to diversify the economy.

“Now, in addition to being the gambling capital of the world, we are also the entertainment capital of the world and the sports capital of the world.

“So we’re continuing to expand our horizons.”

Four-time premiership winner and nine-time grand finalist Cooper Cronk, now part of the Fox League team, said the NRL had also benefited from stretching its wings and gambling on Vegas.

“I don’t think there were too many people in the past that would have had the vision,” he said.

“Generally speaking rugby league has been very good at putting the blinkers on and focusing on core business. But the current leadership has really opened up what could be possible.

“It’s almost our legacy now to carry the baton on and promote the game greater and wider than traditionally was the case.”

Loading…

www.dailytelegraph.com.au
 
Desert Qlder

Desert Qlder

First Grade
Messages
9,997

Super League is NRL’s secret weapon as 12,000 English fans head to Vegas​

Hull KR face Leeds in Sin City on Saturday, with the supporters they bring in tow illustrating the league’s value to the global game

Rugby league’s greatest ride returns to Las Vegas this weekend with Super League nestled firmly in the sidecar. Two NRL fixtures kick off the Australian season while Hull KR and Leeds Rhinos open up the Allegiant Stadium action on Saturday. More than 12,000 English fans are expected to make the trip and add plenty of colour, flair and, most importantly, value.

This has been a strong start to 2026 for the game in England, evidenced last week by Hull KR’s triumph over Brisbane Broncos in the World Club Challenge. It is handy for Super League that the Robins are one of two clubs in Vegas representing the competition this week and they have even flown over the trophy to hammer home the point that Super League holds the cards when it comes to the best club side in the game.

But the mere presence of Super League side-by-side with its Australian counterparts this weekend should emphasise why greater cohesion between the sport’s two premier competitions can have immeasurable benefits for the game in the northern hemisphere. While Super League sweats over the outcome of a new TV deal that could dictate the medium- and long-term financial future of the competition, the NRL is accelerating its plans for global domination.

Las Vegas is just the start. It will ink its own record broadcast deal later this year, having just revealed record-breaking revenue numbers. Talk of a global round for the NRL as early as next year is now brewing with London earmarked as a central part of the plans – which could bring the future of London Broncos into clearer view on this side of the world, too, with strong expectations they will be a Super League club in 2027.

The NRL’s commander in chief, Peter V’landys, will sit down for talks with English officials this weekend with a view to ironing out a deal that will result in potential investment from the Australian game into Super League, bringing the two competitions together like never before. While the bright lights of Las Vegas and the glamour surrounding the fixtures at Allegiant Stadium catch the eye, this is perhaps the real story of note if you scratch beneath the surface.

“I think the NRL have been very receptive towards us and we are expecting to receive something from them in terms of a closer working relationship,” Rhodri Jones, the chief executive of RL Commercial, says. “They see the value in Super League. For the last fortnight we’ve been on the global stage; with Hull KR winning the World Club Challenge and putting eyeballs on the game in Australia, and now we’re in Vegas off the back of a successful start.”

There is immense value in Super League, underlined by the footprint the competition has on the Vegas event. At the now traditional team unveiling on Fremont Street on Thursday, the noise of Hull KR and Leeds supporters drowned out their Australian counterparts and left NRL officials impressed. “It has once again justified why Super League belongs at this event,” Jones says.

Super League is trying to emulate the NRL by pushing into an events culture too. This summer Wigan and Catalans will take a game to Paris. Next year the Warriors and Warrington will go to Dublin. Gone are the days of trying to preach to the converted, it seems; and if the NRL gets fully on board, that mood will only grow further.

“It’s globalisation of sport,” Jones says. “That’s ultimately what the headline is and coming here means rugby league is being globalised; that’s what every serious sport is doing. The NFL do it in Europe, don’t they? It captures interest at home too; last year the Vegas game was the most-watched Super League game on Sky Sports. Bigger than the Grand Final. That’s unheard of.”

The mood is shifting on the ground as well. Hull KR have had to forfeit a home game to make this clash with Leeds happen in Vegas, meaning they will turn a loss on the trip. Leeds also say they expect to lose money given the travelling costs but with the lure of what the NRL can offer now within tantalising reach, these clubs are seeing the bigger picture.

“Too much of a deal is being made of this – it’s fine,” Hull KR’s CEO, Paul Lakin, says. “It’s not a big loss to us. It’s a small loss, but we budgeted to make a small loss. We’ve got top players nd the top players want to play in the biggest games and in the best stadiums in the world. We have to create that platform. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Super League needs the NRL, that much is obvious on so many levels. But in Sin City, perhaps the NRL needs Super League just as much based on what we’ve seen once again this week in terms of the support from English fans and the colour they have added to this carnival of rugby league.

The challenge now is to convert this hype into real change on the ground back home: and after months of posturing, that is where V’landys and the NRL perhaps finally enter the picture.

www.theguardian.com

Super League is NRL’s secret weapon as 12,000 English fans head to Vegas

Hull KR face Leeds in Sin City on Saturday, with the supporters they bring in tow illustrating the league’s value to the global game
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
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