Vegas baby!!

[Sports Prophet]

17 hours ago, Damien said:

Vegas US promo in link below. Also:

The vision will be shown on America’s Fox network, inviting people to flock to the Allegiant Stadium.

As it stands, the SMH is reporting 15,000 tickets have been sold and the NRL are hopeful of packing out the 65,000-seat stadium.

 

 

Great video. The visuals are just such an important piece. I remember the SL one, something around the unbelievable with SL players and Crabtree pushing a skip bin. That was awesome. Haven’t seen anything like that for the RFL since.

[Gerrumonside ref]

I really hope they can sell those tickets and pick up some positive headlines.

[EastLondonMike]

Hope the NRL are watching how F1 launch an event in Vegas.

[The Rocket]

League and its` stars obviously aren`t completely unknown in the U.S. and he does feature rather prominently at the end of that advert they are showing on U.S. Tv.

NBA gives Cleary the red carpet treatment

SPOTTED: Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary courtside at the NBA match between the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics on Thursday morning AEDT.

Cleary is on holidays in the US and the NBA, we’re told, rolled out the proverbial red carpet for the three-time premiership winner, inviting him to meet some of the players before the match.

It speaks to Cleary’s rising popularity that the NBA would give him primo seats for a match between two powerhouse teams.

There you go. We got through an entire item about him without mentioning his love interest.

Btw, Cleary`s (the sly dog) relationship with boom young Matida soccer star Mary Fowler has been attracting a lot of headlines over here.

 

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by The Rocket

[gingerjon]

11 hours ago, EastLondonMike said:

Hope the NRL are watching how F1 launch an event in Vegas.

Keep the drains covered?

[Dunbar]

On 15/11/2023 at 04:23, Damien said:

Vegas US promo in link below. Also:

The vision will be shown on America’s Fox network, inviting people to flock to the Allegiant Stadium.

As it stands, the SMH is reporting 15,000 tickets have been sold and the NRL are hopeful of packing out the 65,000-seat stadium.

 

 

It's interesting that when we try and sell the sport to a new audience we showcase two things.

One is the skill levels and athleticism of the players - that still exists in abundance.

And the other is the collision aspect of the tackling.  Which is a different matter.

The collision tackle has largely been replaced with the wrestle tackle.  And some of the contact in that video would be a penalty and (potentially) a card.

If we recognise that collisions are better than wrestling to sell the sport, why don't we actually try and make that the part of the game it used to be?

[northamptoncougar]

Having been the the states recently a double header isn’t actually a daft idea. The college football game I went to lasted nearly 4hrs, you can easily fit 2 games into that time. 

[The Rocket]

5 hours ago, Dunbar said:

It's interesting that when we try and sell the sport to a new audience we showcase two things.

One is the skill levels and athleticism of the players - that still exists in abundance.

And the other is the collision aspect of the tackling.  Which is a different matter.

The collision tackle has largely been replaced with the wrestle tackle.  And some of the contact in that video would be a penalty and (potentially) a card.

If we recognise that collisions are better than wrestling to sell the sport, why don't we actually try and make that the part of the game it used to be?

My hope is that the teams will really be up for this given the location and event and we will see an Origin (or Test match ) style game which importantly will be officiated accordingly. i.e. plenty of mad charges into the ruck, met by plenty of big and legal (keep your head Victor) hits. That may pique the interest of a new audience especially that opening ten minutes of the game.

[Sports Prophet]

6 hours ago, Dunbar said:

It's interesting that when we try and sell the sport to a new audience we showcase two things.

One is the skill levels and athleticism of the players - that still exists in abundance.

And the other is the collision aspect of the tackling.  Which is a different matter.

The collision tackle has largely been replaced with the wrestle tackle.  And some of the contact in that video would be a penalty and (potentially) a card.

If we recognise that collisions are better than wrestling to sell the sport, why don't we actually try and make that the part of the game it used to be?

I agree. The regularity of the collision and the physical toughness with such a lack of stoppages really is RL’s most unique difference to other team sports and is instantly gratifying which makes it perfect for advertising where five big hits can all be shown in five to ten seconds.

Other extremely successful sports also have the collision and physical toughness aspects as major features as well, so I too get frustrated that we continue to make more effort to minimise the regularity of these key moments.

31 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

My hope is that the teams will really be up for this given the location and event and we will see an Origin (or Test match ) style game which importantly will be officiated accordingly. i.e. plenty of mad charges into the ruck, met by plenty of big and legal (keep your head Victor) hits. That may pique the interest of a new audience especially that opening ten minutes of the game.

Yeah, I think a big stink early in each game would have the yanks, and myself alike, creaming ourselves.

Time for PVL to get some influence on the disciplinary panel. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

[The Rocket]

The NRL has finally locked in a date for their launch in Las Vegas as they look to use the Raiders home game against the Minnesota Vikings and some A-list celebrities to gatecrash America.

Sport Confidential has seen a document sent to clubs outlining their schedule for their US media launch and PR tour.

Each of the four clubs playing in Vegas – Manly, South Sydney, Brisbane and the Sydney Roosters – have agreed to fly one player over for the week, which begins with an appearance at the Raiders home game against the Vikings at Allegiant/

It is understood the game is being televised by Fox Sports in America and the NRL hopes to be included in the coverage.

The plan is then to have the official launch on December 12 at Allegiant Stadium with US media in attendance along with celebrity ambassadors and NRL athletes.

You`ve got to give it to them, they really are giving this a red-hot go. Be great to see the NRL game promo on the big screen during the NFL game.

'No pads, No helmets!' NRL Vegas AD | Fox Sports Videos

 

[fighting irish]

3 hours ago, The Rocket said:

The NRL has finally locked in a date for their launch in Las Vegas as they look to use the Raiders home game against the Minnesota Vikings and some A-list celebrities to gatecrash America.

Sport Confidential has seen a document sent to clubs outlining their schedule for their US media launch and PR tour.

Each of the four clubs playing in Vegas – Manly, South Sydney, Brisbane and the Sydney Roosters – have agreed to fly one player over for the week, which begins with an appearance at the Raiders home game against the Vikings at Allegiant/

It is understood the game is being televised by Fox Sports in America and the NRL hopes to be included in the coverage.

The plan is then to have the official launch on December 12 at Allegiant Stadium with US media in attendance along with celebrity ambassadors and NRL athletes.

You`ve got to give it to them, they really are giving this a red-hot go. Be great to see the NRL game promo on the big screen during the NFL game.

'No pads, No helmets!' NRL Vegas AD | Fox Sports Videos

 

It's the most exciting thing I've heard for ages.

I hope their agenda extends to helping the USARL to get their act together. 

[Jonty58]

Edit

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by Jonty58

[The Rocket]

17 hours ago, fighting irish said:

It's the most exciting thing I've heard for ages.

I hope their agenda extends to helping the USARL to get their act together. 

Thankfully the NRL are in the financial position to take a gamble on ventures like this now, if they pull it off, interesting times.

I`ve also read in the League press over here a couple of times lately that the purchase of another investment property is imminent and that the NRL are soon to announce another massive operating surplus for the season gone.

Some chatter as well that the USA team may get a place in the Pacific Bowl tournament at some stage.

Happy days Irish.

Edited November 24, 2023 by The Rocket

[fighting irish]

4 hours ago, The Rocket said:

Thankfully the NRL are in the financial position to take a gamble on ventures like this now, if they pull it off, interesting times.

I`ve also read in the League press over here a couple of times lately that the purchase of another investment property is imminent and that the NRL are soon to announce another massive operating surplus for the season gone.

Some chatter as well that the USA team may get a place in the Pacific Bowl tournament at some stage.

Happy days Irish.

All great news.

You might have seen some of my other posts about involving the USA in a Trans-Atlantic competition as soon as possible.

We quite rightly celebrate fledgling start ups in Europe and Africa but the USA has more teams than anywhere else in the NH and enormous numbers of high quality athletes and of course, huge potential financial backers, if we can incentivise their growth with International competition.

If I was deciding where to spend meagre resources, for the highest potential returns, then the USA would be my first choice. 

[gingerjon]

5 minutes ago, fighting irish said:

All great news.

You might have seen some of my other posts about involving the USA in a Trans-Atlantic competition as soon as possible.

We quite rightly celebrate fledgling start ups in Europe and Africa but the USA has more teams than anywhere else in the NH and enormous numbers of high quality athletes and of course, huge potential financial backers, if we can incentivise their growth with International competition.

If I was deciding where to spend meagre resources, for the highest potential returns, then the USA would be my first choice. 

How many active teams does the US have now?

(That’s a genuine Q as I find it difficult to follow)

[fighting irish]

3 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

How many active teams does the US have now?

(That’s a genuine Q as I find it difficult to follow)

Yes so do I. I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your question. 

[The Rocket]

1 hour ago, fighting irish said:

All great news.

You might have seen some of my other posts about involving the USA in a Trans-Atlantic competition as soon as possible.

We quite rightly celebrate fledgling start ups in Europe and Africa but the USA has more teams than anywhere else in the NH and enormous numbers of high quality athletes and of course, huge potential financial backers, if we can incentivise their growth with International competition.

If I was deciding where to spend meagre resources, for the highest potential returns, then the USA would be my first choice. 

You`d have to think that for any fledgling Rugby League competitions in the US, the ability to now say, in any of the local (or otherwise) press coverage they may get, ` that is us` and point to the Las Vegas double-header, coud only give those competitions a leg-up.

Edited November 24, 2023 by The Rocket

[Whippet13]

2 hours ago, gingerjon said:

How many active teams does the US have now?

(That’s a genuine Q as I find it difficult to follow)

Regularly playing, it seems to be about 20-30 teams. There are fewer women's and very little junior RL, but people seem to be working to improve these and the game looks like it's growing again after the Covid disruption and long periods of in-fighting between rival organisations. 

Very little RL over there seems to be USARL led or coordinated however, so individual clubs or regions are doing their own thing. That's ok to a extent (plenty space to grow organically) and there is cross region activity but it doesn't create a long term growth strategy or shared standards/best practices etc.

I'm hopeful the NRL activity will be the catalyst for someone to get things properly organised over there as plenty of growth potential exists.

[Damien]

 

 

[JM2010]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

 

 

What’s the potential tv audience for this game?

[gingerjon]

21 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

What’s the potential tv audience for this game?

Average prime time seems to be around 360,000?

Some people who know how US TV numbers work may be able to decode them better.

[Whippet13]

53 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

What’s the potential tv audience for this game?

Potentially c70m households, but numbers subscribing will obviously be much less.

Some historical event viewing figures at the bottom of this link:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Sports_1

[philipw]

1 hour ago, JM2010 said:

What’s the potential tv audience for this game?

90million apparently 

[Anita Bath]

Its that time of year when nfl has finished and before baseball has started. NHL is at the business end of the season but its viewing figures in US are poor. So just the NBA to go up against.

[Big Picture]

4 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Average prime time seems to be around 360,000?

Some people who know how US TV numbers work may be able to decode them better.

Sometimes even less, as you can see from the NCAA Division 1 FBS gridiron matches on Fox Sports 1 this year in the list here.  I note that one of those lesser draws got less than 100,000.