The Rocket

You are so wrong it is laughable. Where do I start. Ok, according to sources close to the bid the deal with the West Australian Gov`t is done. The panic by the fumbles, Seven and fumble loving fans and the oppostion trying to make this an election issue left Cook no choice but to make out this was far from a done deal and now he has to let it wait a few weeks before the announcement so as not to appear deceitful. Most are expecting some time around the two NRL and SOO match to be held in Perth for there now to be an announcement. ^ This is the best bit. I can understand you not knowing about the former but this. The panic and hand-wringing that has been going on in fumble media because of the jump the NRL got on it with the Vegas venture has been priceless. The amount of madcap schemes that have been floated to try and gain some media has been laughable, not to mention the condemnation of their farcical round zero or whatever what it was called. And the best part is there is absolutely nothing they can do. Mind you there has been calls for more combines in the US to "internationalise" the game. And as far as crowds Melbourne Storm record round one crowd, gws midgets 19k announced (ha bloody ha) about 10k melburnites and god knows how many freebies, but who cares. TV ratings; In total, last weekend’s two NRL matches were watched by viewing audiences of: more than 2 million in Australia more than 400K in the United States more than 550K in New Zealand England 350k 144 m or 2 400 000 hours of streaming on Kayo for the day. A record for any sport on Foxtel. Fumbles opening game 651 000. Bloody terrible. Quietly going about your business, what a hoot.

Apparently the NRL pay half his contract for the first year. Not bad.

You`ve been watching too many movies.

Sounds like a sponsorship opportunity right there. The same thing happened when they held State of Origin in Western Oz for the first time. The owner of a famous pub/ beer garden nearby Optus Stadium said he had never recorded beer sales like they did for Origin for any other sporting event ever, not even close. He went on to say " can we have it every year !".

Nah I didn`t know that as I never go on their forums, but I do know that from some of the fumble interviews and panel shows being posted on the Oz League forum they are not happy and feeling decidedly overshadowed and coming up with all-sorts of hair-brained ideas to counter it. Not one of which I might add involves playing overseas which is really the whole point why this was successful.

Brad Walter @BradWalterSport · Follow New Zealand viewership figures updated - more than 550k watched the Raiders v Warriors on SKY Sport, SKY Go and SKY Sport Now. nrl.com Vegas venture paying off with huge increase in US viewers Was estimated 300k, now updated to more than 10 % of the entire New Zealand population. 557k to be exact. Just imagine if the bastards were winning.

"The 371,000 average viewers on FOX was up 86% on FOX’s previous rugby telecast performance of 200k viewers for the Major League Rugby Championship. With WatchNRL streaming these number increase even further." 86% higher than a Major League Rugby Championship match on the same channel. Mental, how long have they been running that comp there. .NRL 2025: FOX, United States, viewers, Allegiant Stadium; Vegas venture paying off with huge viewership in US, Australia, NZ | NRL.com

Being reported in Oz: "The Canberra Raiders match against the New Zealand Warriors on Saturday afternoon US time attracted an audience of 371,000 on the FOX free-to-air channel. "Combined with viewers on the streaming service watchnrl.com, it is understood the overall audience for that one game exceeded 400,000 in the US — more than watched the match in NZ. America’s leading sports economist Dan Rascher told The Daily Telegraph that audiences of around 500,000 are enough to have US broadcasters competing strongly for rights. “Any sort of new or start up leagues into this market also have to find a way of providing constant content, but NRL has that covered (via regular season matches in Australia),” he said." Around 300 000 being reported watched in NZ and about 1.4m in Oz.

I repeat this because it is important to know, the fumbles deal is nowhere $650m/annum and according to most fair observers probably more in the $550 - $570m per annum mark once contra and a host of other things are removed. Like their participation figures their broadcast number is rubbery in the extreme, propagated by either a sycophantic or lazy media and encouraged by F-ball house to try and bolster their claims of being Australia`s No.1 sport. We know otherwise.

Technical difficulties with Kayo as well. My kids and I did Clean-up Australia this morning, 4 hours in the sun picking up litter, raced home to stream the Warriors/Raiders game on replay, damn Kayo froze and then skipped to the players congratulating each other at full-time.

Was reported over here today that V`landys met with the folk from RL Commercial and IMG.

It`ll happen and especially after this week with V`landys and Abdo seeing the passion that the English fans bring, I`ve no doubt they`ll be discussing how they can fit it into the calendar.

Mate I`ve never been on the bf forum in my life, ask the @unapologetic pedant seems he ventures on there regularly for `research` purposes.

"The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) has been so pleased with the event that talks are already underway to extend the NRL’s contract past its current 2028 end date." NRL's Vegas opener to inject $100m to visitor economy - Travel Weekly

NRL ABOUT TO SMASH $100M BARRIER Rugby league is on the verge of crashing through the $100 million barrier when it comes to the game’s economic impact in Las Vegas. Vegas Con can reveal that last year’s double header was worth more than $77 million to Sin City in terms of economic impact. However, this year’s quadruple header is set to leave last year in the shade given the increased interest in the concept and the inclusion of two English teams as well as the women’s Test. Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority boss Steve Hill confirmed the economic numbers and revealed Sin City officials were open to extending their deal with the NRL. The NRL struck a five-year deal with Las Vegas tourism which has three years to run. However, the concept has been such a success that Las Vegas officials are open to starting talks over an extension. Being reported the Las Vegas Tourism board are paying the NRL $690k US to hold the event in Vegas, they might want to bump that up considerably if the NRL are going to see if other cities want to bid for it.

It`s just not that, the women in fumble-w can`t kick as far as the men, that means more of the 36 players on the field in a smaller radius around the kicker, more players around the ball means a catch is much less likely to be taken, ball on the ground and that`s when the fun (that`s being kind) really begins. It`s a mess and actually quite comical. It is an intractable problem that I don`t know how they are going to fix.

They had a touch match between Oz Indigenous and Maori All-Stars on Nine`s FTA secondary channel before the women`s and men`s All-Stars match the other day, first time I think it has been on FTA and it didn`t disappoint, the quality outstanding and quite the thrilling match won by the Kiwis`. I was sceptical before I turned it on but it was darn good entertainment. What struck me as much as anything was the effect it is having on the tackle game now, not dissimilar to T20`s influence on Test cricket. Players like Keano Kini from the Titans` who was picked up out of a Touch Football tournament, watch him and you see moves that you see in Touch games and it is something we are seeing more often.

Because they make you look fat? It is Mardi Gras week after all.

And they will but in the meantime are we supposed to say no thanks when you have supposed Kiwi Black Ferns `union legends` publicly stating they`d like to have a crack at NRLW and actually approaching clubs about playing. The way they talk about the NRLW is as if they are in awe.

Do you think that a greater involvement in the Vegas venture is worth pursuing as well and do you possibly think that it has played a small part in what appears to be a positive vibe around the start of your season.

V`Landys recently on sourcing players for an expanded NRLW: " there’s another sport I think called union or something. They’ve got a lot of players so maybe we can source some of them from there.” Doesn`t miss, does he.

Having the Warriors with all the union stars they`ve signed, some legends apparently, back in the NRLW I think will be a real boon for that competition as well.

NRL 2025: ARLC annual report; revenue, surplus, attendances, viewers, participation, assets; Record 2024 confirms league as No.1 sport in Australia and the Pacific | NRL.com Rugby League has reaffirmed its standing as the No.1 sporting code in Australia and the Pacific after the ARLC announced record breaking attendances, TV audiences, participation numbers, revenue and assets. 200.5 million aggregate viewership across Australia and New Zealand. NRL 2025, annual report 2024, Participation, records set, 1 million participants, No.1 sport in Australia and Pacific | NRL.com I love the way they are including without qualification Touch, Tag and Tackle all under the participation figure now. 1.03m, that`s a figure to market the game around.

I wonder how much of a stake the NRL will have in this and if it might be a long-term play to get in on the ground floor of a developing country. Maybe a fifty-year plan to secure an asset that maybe worth many times more that in the future. V`Landys does have a penchant for real estate.

Pride cometh.....