Vegas baby!!

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

3 hours ago, The Rocket said:

Couple of pages back you were doubting the ticket sales and saying Americans will have no interest in an "obscure" sport they`ve never heard of, now union is going to get any kudo`s if this Vegas thing comes off, I don`t know why you bother coming on here, man you`re a miserable negative piece of work.

He's an energy vampire

[footy_fan_nrl]

10 hours ago, gingerjon said:

RU is in the middle of another delightful cycle of failure in the US and Canada. 

Not at all actually, which is unfortunate for your narrative. Playing numbers at colleges/universities have been steadily increasing and the rugby World Cup in 2031 is upcoming.

[The Rocket]

14 hours ago, JDM said:

He did state 'Rugby League' in a response to one of the reporter's statements (about the 'tush push' move) but I think it'd be a pretty tough task to correct her politely and then have to explain what he means / the difference between the two in a 2-minute segment.

Perhaps Woodsy and the boys have been given the heads up.

On Monday, the Big Sell continued.

Having attended the Raiders-Vikings NFL match at Allegiant on Sunday afternoon, Roosters recruit Spencer Leniu, the Broncos’ Billy Walters, Manly’s Aaron Woods and Souths centre Campbell Graham walked the famous Vegas strip to pose for photos.

 

As was the case at Allegiant, local fans for whatever reason identified them as “rugby players”.

For his part, Woods wasn’t having a bar of it.

“No, we’re rugby league guys,” Woods informed them. “We tackle harder.”

[Dunbar]

There are clearly the usual negatives around brand and identity in this adventure but also some positives.

On the negative side, when we see a sports broadcaster not knowing the difference between 'rugby' and Rugby League then we have an identity problem.  We have ceded the name rugby to the other code and so we are in the odd position where a player has to say they are not rugby players.  I mean, that's just crazy. 

And in an interview about Rugby League, we have to see a League prop discuss the scrum (which he doesn't care about and we don't care about).

All this means that any success we have, the Union lot may well benefit from, as no-one over there currently knows the difference (we should do more of that in reverse).

But... there are positives.

The NRL has canny leadership and marketing people and they will lean heavily into the NRL brand (rather than the name Rugby League) and the club identities.  I would normally be frustrated with the NRL being sold rather than the sport as a whole but in this case I think it is 100% the right thing to do.

[The Rocket]

11 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

All this means that any success we have, the Union lot may well benefit from, as no-one over there currently knows the difference (we should do more of that in reverse).

 That was my thoughts as well, but on a little reflection I think it probably doesn`t matter, if we can get Americans to tune into the game they will discover very quickly that a) this game is very different to the `rugby` that they have already seen, or b) for those who are ignorant of any `rugby` they just enjoy it (hopefully) for what it is. This can all be aided and abetted by of course the commentators during the coverage making sure that everyone knows they are watching Rugby LEAGUE.

Not dissimilar to Andrew Voss`s cry during the NRL Vegas promo  "what a Rugby League try".

[The Rocket]

They`re really giving this the best possible chance you would think.

NRL Las Vegas: Andrew Abdo announces UFC partnership before 2024 season-opener double-header (smh.com.au)

Las Vegas: The NRL’s bold foray into the US market has taken a gigantic step forward with the announcement of a critical partnership with the UFC – the biggest sport in Las Vegas and among the biggest in the world.

 

While the first year of the deal will see the UFC share content and publicity opportunities with the NRL, it is envisaged a fight night will be held on the same weekend as rugby league in 2025.

It is a significant win for the NRL because the UFC has never partnered with another sport.

UFC chief operating officer Lawrence Epstein – who is considered one of Las Vegas’ most influential figures – said the UFC wanted to grow its audience in the Asia-Pacific region.

“We know we have a tremendous crossover for the two fan bases,” he said. “The sports have the same ethos: hard work, dedication, sportsmanship and unexpected things happen all the time. We couldn’t be more excited welcoming rugby league to Las Vegas.”

But the person who stole the show was retired UFC legend Forrest Griffin, whose gruesome fight in 2005 with Stephan Bonnar is considered “the most important fight in UFC history”, according to founder Dana White.

“It’s an easy game to understand – and this is a beautiful place to do it,” Griffin, 44, said. “I love the pace of the game. You think about it: they get 80 minutes done faster than you can in 60 minutes of American football. I was also interested to learn there are only four replacements? For the whole game? That’s crazy.”

Earlier, NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo made several key announcements about the event, which has attracted 20,000 ticket sales.

A partnership with NASCAR, which is being held in Vegas on the same weekend, has been struck.

A talent combine will be held at the Ed W. Clark High School earlier that day involving 15 male and 15 female college athletes. The top two will then trial with NRL clubs later in the year.

Abdo also revealed the Vegas Nines, a grassroots tournament being run in conjunction with USA Rugby League, will be held on the Thursday and Friday.

In another article UFC legend Forrest Griffin told how he had been watching a video of the NRL`s 100 greatest tackles and how he was loving it and that he thought how Americans would love the fact that they could see the faces of the players during the action, something of course they were unable to do because of the helmets worn in NFL. Interesting observation I thought.

 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by The Rocket

[Coggo]

22 hours ago, Dunbar said:

There are clearly the usual negatives around brand and identity in this adventure but also some positives.

On the negative side, when we see a sports broadcaster not knowing the difference between 'rugby' and Rugby League then we have an identity problem.  We have ceded the name rugby to the other code and so we are in the odd position where a player has to say they are not rugby players.  I mean, that's just crazy. 

And in an interview about Rugby League, we have to see a League prop discuss the scrum (which he doesn't care about and we don't care about).

All this means that any success we have, the Union lot may well benefit from, as no-one over there currently knows the difference (we should do more of that in reverse).

But... there are positives.

The NRL has canny leadership and marketing people and they will lean heavily into the NRL brand (rather than the name Rugby League) and the club identities.  I would normally be frustrated with the NRL being sold rather than the sport as a whole but in this case I think it is 100% the right thing to do.

Yes. NRL is the way forward. In America. In Europe…

[Coggo]

1 hour ago, The Rocket said:

They`re really giving this the best possible chance you would think.

NRL Las Vegas: Andrew Abdo announces UFC partnership before 2024 season-opener double-header (smh.com.au)

Las Vegas: The NRL’s bold foray into the US market has taken a gigantic step forward with the announcement of a critical partnership with the UFC – the biggest sport in Las Vegas and among the biggest in the world.

 

While the first year of the deal will see the UFC share content and publicity opportunities with the NRL, it is envisaged a fight night will be held on the same weekend as rugby league in 2025.

It is a significant win for the NRL because the UFC has never partnered with another sport.

UFC chief operating officer Lawrence Epstein – who is considered one of Las Vegas’ most influential figures – said the UFC wanted to grow its audience in the Asia-Pacific region.

“We know we have a tremendous crossover for the two fan bases,” he said. “The sports have the same ethos: hard work, dedication, sportsmanship and unexpected things happen all the time. We couldn’t be more excited welcoming rugby league to Las Vegas.”

But the person who stole the show was retired UFC legend Forrest Griffin, whose gruesome fight in 2005 with Stephan Bonnar is considered “the most important fight in UFC history”, according to founder Dana White.

“It’s an easy game to understand – and this is a beautiful place to do it,” Griffin, 44, said. “I love the pace of the game. You think about it: they get 80 minutes done faster than you can in 60 minutes of American football. I was also interested to learn there are only four replacements? For the whole game? That’s crazy.”

Earlier, NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo made several key announcements about the event, which has attracted 20,000 ticket sales.

A partnership with NASCAR, which is being held in Vegas on the same weekend, has been struck.

A talent combine will be held at the Ed W. Clark High School earlier that day involving 15 male and 15 female college athletes. The top two will then trial with NRL clubs later in the year.

Abdo also revealed the Vegas Nines, a grassroots tournament being run in conjunction with USA Rugby League, will be held on the Thursday and Friday.

In another article UFC legend Forrest Griffin told how he had been watching a video of the NRL`s 100 greatest tackles and how he was loving it and that he thought how Americans would love the fact that they could see the faces of the players during the action, something of course they were unable to do because of the helmets worn in NFL. Interesting observation I thought.

 

 

I see UFC is shown on Fox Sports in the US (and Aussie).

This goes above just the NRL, I suspect. It seems the Murdochs are involved. Good.

[whatmichaelsays]

NRL board: "World Rugby is being more stringent about head contact and lowering the tackle height to avoid concussion. How do we respond?"

Peter V'Landys: "hold my beer. Then smash it over that guys head, and stomp on his head when he hits the ground!"

[The Rocket]

A little more information on the combine and Nines Tournament to be run by the NRL in America.

The combine seems a little gimmicky, but heck, if it garners more publicity why not. The nines tournament I think has more potential, interesting that Abdo says union clubs have been invited to form a League nines team and have a go.

“We are going to be working with local partners and we will be going out to the male and female college athletes and they get to apply,” NRL boss Andrew Abdo said.

“The top 50 male and female applicants will come down for an intensive session. We will have our high-performance team, who will be filtering and monitoring the statistics and the testing on the day.

“The output gets captured in a report. That information gets sent off. A short-list develops on that day.”

Jillaroos coach Brad Donald will oversee the combine along with the game’s high-performance unit. The college athletes will take part in a range of fitness and skills drills at Ed W. Clark High School in Las Vegas.

From there, the NRL will choose two female and two male athletes and give them an opportunity to travel to Australia to train with teams. Clubs will then be given an option to offer a player a full-time development deal.

With regards the Nines Tournament:

The NRL will also stage a two-day nines tournament in Las Vegas on the Thursday and Friday before the double header on Saturday, local time, between Manly and South Sydney, and the Sydney Roosters against Brisbane.

There will be an under-18s and open competitions for men and women.

“It’s exciting for us to open this up to the rugby league community which exists already,” Abdo said. “We are working with USA Rugby League. We are putting together nine’s tournament. We’ve had a huge response and 27 teams have already entered.

“It’s not just for rugby league teams. We think we can attract some rugby union teams.

“It will be played across two days and there will be prize money for the winners. It’s about connecting them to the rugby league community. They will attend the game.”

 

[Lowdesert]

5 hours ago, The Rocket said:

They`re really giving this the best possible chance you would think.

NRL Las Vegas: Andrew Abdo announces UFC partnership before 2024 season-opener double-header (smh.com.au)

Las Vegas: The NRL’s bold foray into the US market has taken a gigantic step forward with the announcement of a critical partnership with the UFC – the biggest sport in Las Vegas and among the biggest in the world.

 

While the first year of the deal will see the UFC share content and publicity opportunities with the NRL, it is envisaged a fight night will be held on the same weekend as rugby league in 2025.

It is a significant win for the NRL because the UFC has never partnered with another sport.

UFC chief operating officer Lawrence Epstein – who is considered one of Las Vegas’ most influential figures – said the UFC wanted to grow its audience in the Asia-Pacific region.

“We know we have a tremendous crossover for the two fan bases,” he said. “The sports have the same ethos: hard work, dedication, sportsmanship and unexpected things happen all the time. We couldn’t be more excited welcoming rugby league to Las Vegas.”

But the person who stole the show was retired UFC legend Forrest Griffin, whose gruesome fight in 2005 with Stephan Bonnar is considered “the most important fight in UFC history”, according to founder Dana White.

“It’s an easy game to understand – and this is a beautiful place to do it,” Griffin, 44, said. “I love the pace of the game. You think about it: they get 80 minutes done faster than you can in 60 minutes of American football. I was also interested to learn there are only four replacements? For the whole game? That’s crazy.”

Earlier, NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo made several key announcements about the event, which has attracted 20,000 ticket sales.

A partnership with NASCAR, which is being held in Vegas on the same weekend, has been struck.

A talent combine will be held at the Ed W. Clark High School earlier that day involving 15 male and 15 female college athletes. The top two will then trial with NRL clubs later in the year.

Abdo also revealed the Vegas Nines, a grassroots tournament being run in conjunction with USA Rugby League, will be held on the Thursday and Friday.

In another article UFC legend Forrest Griffin told how he had been watching a video of the NRL`s 100 greatest tackles and how he was loving it and that he thought how Americans would love the fact that they could see the faces of the players during the action, something of course they were unable to do because of the helmets worn in NFL. Interesting observation I thought.

 

 

As the game gets closer it’s interesting to see what additional content/ingredients - grassroots, Ed W Clark trial, UFC backing (Joe Rogan has also mentioned similar on his podcasts), NASCAR - are added, pre game.  Makes for a compelling lead up to the game.

[Lowdesert]

2 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

A little more information on the combine and Nines Tournament to be run by the NRL in America.

The combine seems a little gimmicky, but heck, if it garners more publicity why not. The nines tournament I think has more potential, interesting that Abdo says union clubs have been invited to form a League nines team and have a go.

“We are going to be working with local partners and we will be going out to the male and female college athletes and they get to apply,” NRL boss Andrew Abdo said.

“The top 50 male and female applicants will come down for an intensive session. We will have our high-performance team, who will be filtering and monitoring the statistics and the testing on the day.

“The output gets captured in a report. That information gets sent off. A short-list develops on that day.”

Jillaroos coach Brad Donald will oversee the combine along with the game’s high-performance unit. The college athletes will take part in a range of fitness and skills drills at Ed W. Clark High School in Las Vegas.

From there, the NRL will choose two female and two male athletes and give them an opportunity to travel to Australia to train with teams. Clubs will then be given an option to offer a player a full-time development deal.

With regards the Nines Tournament:

The NRL will also stage a two-day nines tournament in Las Vegas on the Thursday and Friday before the double header on Saturday, local time, between Manly and South Sydney, and the Sydney Roosters against Brisbane.

There will be an under-18s and open competitions for men and women.

“It’s exciting for us to open this up to the rugby league community which exists already,” Abdo said. “We are working with USA Rugby League. We are putting together nine’s tournament. We’ve had a huge response and 27 teams have already entered.

“It’s not just for rugby league teams. We think we can attract some rugby union teams.

“It will be played across two days and there will be prize money for the winners. It’s about connecting them to the rugby league community. They will attend the game.”

 

Good that they are including work with USA RL.

I don’t personally see issues with RU invites or attendance.  Those who haven’t played RL before will soon see they are more involved.

 

[Harry Stottle]

On 11/12/2023 at 09:12, The Rocket said:

Concerns about fitting a rugby league configuration on an NFL ground aren’t as serious as some have suggested. The playing surface will be four metres narrower than it normally is,

Not specifically asking you Rocket but to anyone.

How does Bratford's playing surface compare with this for size, to me Odsal is to narrow and it looks it.

[unapologetic pedant]

56 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Not specifically asking you Rocket but to anyone.

How does Bratford's playing surface compare with this for size, to me Odsal is to narrow and it looks it.

Wigan v Warrington 1989 in Milwaukee was played on a narrow pitch. Goes without saying that razzle-dazzle wasn't the dominant theme. Maybe the NRL won't mind condensed bash and crash if they're pushing a link with UFC.

[unapologetic pedant]

7 hours ago, The Rocket said:

“It’s an easy game to understand – 

Not if we get an Atkins masterclass in phantom knock-ons. And Klein in the bunker searching for obstructions.

[The Rocket]

3 hours ago, Lowdesert said:

As the game gets closer it’s interesting to see what additional content/ingredients - grassroots, Ed W Clark trial, UFC backing (Joe Rogan has also mentioned similar on his podcasts), NASCAR - are added, pre game.  Makes for a compelling lead up to the game.

 

3 hours ago, Lowdesert said:

Good that they are including work with USA RL.

I don’t personally see issues with RU invites or attendance.  Those who haven’t played RL before will soon see they are more involved.

 

I`m just wondering how many teams this Rugby League nines tournament could cater for and how big it might get, whether we might start to see teams sent from all over the Rugby League (and haha) rugby union world, culminating in the mother of all tail-gate parties the afternoon before the double-header. The winners presented to the crowd at the double-header.

Two-event-for-one tickets for all attendees of the proceeding days UFC and Nascar events of course.

As you say, makes for a compelling lead up to the game, and could ensure a bumper crowd year-in year-out if this becomes a regular fixture line-up with who-knows what else they are thinking of.

[Lowdesert]

13 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

 

I`m just wondering how many teams this Rugby League nines tournament could cater for and how big it might get, whether we might start to see teams sent from all over the Rugby League (and haha) rugby union world, culminating in the mother of all tail-gate parties the afternoon before the double-header. The winners presented to the crowd at the double-header.

Two-event-for-one tickets for all attendees of the proceeding days UFC and Nascar events of course.

As you say, makes for a compelling lead up to the game, and could ensure a bumper crowd year-in year-out if this becomes a regular fixture line-up with who-knows what else they are thinking of.

One piece I read today said 20k so far and another (LV outlet) 18000.

I doubt it’ll be 25k but wouldn’t be surprised if it is close with freebies from the 9s comp, UFC & NASCAR dignitaries plus the public walk ups, which I read is usually a few thousand.  Maybe Kylie will rally round her colleagues too?

 

[ATLANTISMAN]

1 hour ago, Lowdesert said:

One piece I read today said 20k so far and another (LV outlet) 18000.

I doubt it’ll be 25k but wouldn’t be surprised if it is close with freebies from the 9s comp, UFC & NASCAR dignitaries plus the public walk ups, which I read is usually a few thousand.  Maybe Kylie will rally round her colleagues too?

 

You can add 3 more we booked today looking forward too a great weekend and hopefully a selfie with Rick at the pawn shop:)))))

[Shaggy]

20000 with two and a half months left to promote the matches? 

 

And people are being negative?

[Whippet13]

1 hour ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

You can add 3 more we booked today looking forward too a great weekend and hopefully a selfie with Rick at the pawn shop:)))))

He won't be there, none of them work day to day - interesting place though, I have been and it was worth a visit for an hour or so.

[Gomersall]

29 minutes ago, Whippet13 said:

He won't be there, none of them work day to day - interesting place though, I have been and it was worth a visit for an hour or so.

Is Dan Tanner’s office nearby?

[Whippet13]

50 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

Is Dan Tanner’s office nearby?

Dan Tanna (Robert Ulrich)? Don't know, imagine it's long gone like most of the old Las Vegas.

[Whippet13]

The UFC perspective: https://www.ufc.com/news/ufc-announces-strategic-partnership-nrl-aussie-football-code-launches-vegas-mission

[Sports Prophet]

13 minutes ago, Whippet13 said:

The UFC perspective: https://www.ufc.com/news/ufc-announces-strategic-partnership-nrl-aussie-football-code-launches-vegas-mission

With all those knocks to the head, they couldn’t even spell “league” correctly.

I wonder if UFC will propose punching and kicking below the armpit anytime soon  

[Dave T]

What does this line mean? 

"The new partnership will see UFC build upon its already strong links with NRL to reach thousands of potential new fans" 

Is there already a link?