Vegas Again/2025 and WCC

[FearTheVee]

8 minutes ago, NRLandSL said:

He said the majority of SL sides would be thrashed out of sight. If the majority of sides are getting “thrashed out of sight” which must mean at least 50-60 points, By that logic no team in the SL should be able to compete.

When I read his post I read him saying that the majority (which I take as more than half) would get walloped "by the four teams on show" - namely Roosters, Broncos, Souths and Manly. Four of the biggest clubs in the NRL.

There is nothing remotely outlandish about that claim IMO. Most of the bottom half of SL get walloped by the top half of SL let alone some of the biggest clubs in the NRL.

Edited March 4 by FearTheVee

[Worzel]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

For all the bluster about breaking America - and it is bluster - this, to me, shows the real positive. Boosting an already insanely popular and visible sport in Australia even further.

Precisely this. There's nothing wrong with trying to get a secondary TV deal in the US, and accessing another (larger) sports betting market. Those are sensible growth goals for a business that wants to monetise itself better. But even if neither of those things happen at all, just having an annual event in the US to kick-start each new NRL season with a bang is a massive improvement.

Thousands of Brits travel to Vegas for events each year already, I'm sure Aussies do too. If this is fixed in the calendar for the 5 years V'Landys says it is then I can only see it growing from here. I'm definitely going next year.  

[Dave T]

11 hours ago, Worzel said:

What a weird take. You’re basically saying I’m incapable of independent thought, only like something because the NRL do it, or only dislike something because the RFL do. A bit dismissive that mate.

I like the numbers because I think they add to the visual spectacle, and help communicate the field position better to a watching TV audience. I think that because I think that, it’s really that simple. Agree, or don’t, but at least give me the credit for honestly holding an opinion. 

That's fair, you're right about my dismissiveness of your view, so apologies. 

I do fundamentally disagree, I don't think the pitch confuses anyone, ever tbh.

 

[Dave T]

2 hours ago, gingerjon said:

For all the bluster about breaking America - and it is bluster - this, to me, shows the real positive. Boosting an already insanely popular and visible sport in Australia even further.

I think that's right. I've seen some outlandish claims about this, Mick Gledhill saying it's the most important thing the sport of RL has ever done being a favourite! 

I don't think everything needs to be so grand, TWP were never going to change the world of RL, Catalans are not gonna drive us to take over Europe, London are not the most important team in the UK. I think it's OK to enjoy things, and think things can help to move the dial slightly rather than being a silver bullet. 

[Damien]

 

 

[Martyn Sadler]

1 hour ago, Copa said:

One of the best things about V’landys is he makes rugby league fans genuinely feel like he’s helping the game reach its potential. He also totally ignores mindless criticism from other sports, class based attacks, snobbery etc. It feels like he ooozes “we’re rugby league, we’re amazing and we’ll proudly do what we do”

We're very fortunate that he grew up in Wollongong and not Melbourne.

His greatest achievement is to have instilled a genuine sense of confidence and aspiration into the NRL's administration.

As for Vegas, I suspect that many Rugby League supporters who didn't go this year will already be making plans to go in 2025.

[Dunbar]

As others have said, if this stays locked in the calendar, I will probably go one year, and probably next year if it is announced soon.

Personally, I would prefer it to be a weekend of Rugby League rather than a double header single day as that feels more of an occasion and it is a long way to go for a single match day.

It won't happen but how good would a Super League game and an NRL game on each of Saturday and Sunday be - you would absolutely see tens of thousands from both Australia and the UK.

But we all have our different preferences - as I say, even if it stays the same, I will go.

What we need is consistency and commitment to a strategy, something that Rugby league has not been great at for a century or so.

Edited March 4 by Dunbar

[The Rocket]

 

Drew

 

@DadahUniforms

·

Follow

Just a heads up: the NRL games are being replayed right now on FS2 in America, in Sunday night prime time. @NRL #NRLVegas #NRL

2:18 PM · Mar 4, 2024 from Paradise, NV

[jim_57]

Mentions of triple header might point towards some English involvement next year. I think the WCC in Vegas might be the push, one more NRL team and some English fans to boost the crowd, “meet in the middle” type deal. While the NRL has an odd number teams the premiers can have the bye round 1 to make it work.

Personally I’d prefer the WCC in England followed by an NRL/SL double header in Manchester or London the same weekend as Vegas, the more ‘events’ the better. 

[Dunbar]

Thinking through the time zones, a Sunday match in Las Vegas wouldn't work for the Australian audience. 

I would go with one match late pm Las  time would be Saturday afternoon Australia and then the double header Saturday which would be Sunday afternoon Australia.

[Martyn Sadler]

49 minutes ago, Martyn Sadler said:

We're very fortunate that he grew up in Wollongong and not Melbourne.

His greatest achievement is to have instilled a genuine sense of confidence and aspiration into the NRL's administration.

As for Vegas, I suspect that many Rugby League supporters who didn't go this year will already be making plans to go in 2025.

Bevan Shields, the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, has sent out an email that illustrates these points.

When I first heard that the NRL was planning to open its 2024 season in Las Vegas, I thought Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys was nuts. How on Earth could this possibly work? How would Australian fans feel about the NRL turning its gaze to the US market, particularly when other codes have tried and failed? And what happens when a player trips up in Sin City?

This week's slightly delayed note comes to you from Las Vegas, where over the past week any scepticism about the NRL's experiment has been shattered. First, a disclaimer: I travelled to Vegas as a guest of the NRL, along with executives from other media companies. The NRL has also assisted with the costs of sending several Herald journalists to be here, but the support has no influence over how we cover the season opener, or my views about whether the venture has been worthwhile.

I am writing this note having just returned from Allegiant Stadium, a stunning $US1.9 billion ($2.9 billion) 65,000-seat covered arena where the NFL's Super Bowl was held just a few weeks ago. As NRL fans would know, the Manly Sea Eagles defeated the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the first game and the Sydney Roosters overran the Brisbane Broncos in the second – a game that was somewhat marred by accusations Roosters recruit Spencer Leniu had called Brisbane five-eighth Ezra Mam a "monkey".

Nearly 41,000 people were in the stadium, a number I believe – racial slur aside – makes the Las Vegas gamble a winner. (The total figure would have been even higher had Vegas not been battered on game day by the strongest winds since 1985, which caused havoc at the airport and in the streets surrounding the stadium.) But the US push is about much more than just filling a stadium. As Adrian Proszenko recently wrote in the Herald, the NRL has thrown all of its chips in with its Vegas gamble, committing to playing games in Sin City until at least the end of 2028. The goal is to get a heap of Americans slowly engaged with the game via the Watch NRL app, which provides fans outside Australia and New Zealand access to all men's and women's competition games, as well as State of Origin. The cost to Americans is $US169 ($229) a year and only 3000 have subscribed.

As V'landys explained it to Proszenko: "If we can get 1 per cent of the US population over five years, that's 3.4 million people. You times that by $US169, that's around $577 million. Even if we were to get half of that, that's more than $250 million. There are 300,000 Australians living in the US. Even if we got half of those, that's an extra $25 million. It's huge."

The booming US sport wagering market is another chance to cash in. NRL chief executive officer Andrew Abdo says sports wagering is being rapidly deregulated in America and fans are embracing the opportunity to bet on matches. A deal is yet to be struck with a betting firm but once it is, the NRL will take a cut of all bets made on the competition.

However, the US market is a notoriously tough nut to crack and we won't know for years whether the league's big goals have been achieved. Or, as the Herald's chief sports writer Andrew Webster put it, if the "Vegas experiment will turn out to be a ridiculously expensive boys' trip to Sin City or a venture that will reap financial rewards for decades".

This week has demonstrated that the NRL is not going to die wondering. The Strip is covered in NRL advertisements with the tagline "No pads. No helmets. No fear." Actor Russell Crowe even filmed a video explaining the rules and history of the NRL. Deals have been struck with hotel companies and tourism authorities for cheaper rates. Clubs that stayed home this year are already lobbying to go to Nevada in 2025.

At the start of last week here in Vegas, there was still a great deal of anxiety about whether this would all turn out to be a fizzer. A key moment occurred on Wednesday evening, when NRL executives breathed a collective sigh of relief at the sight of thousands of fans who packed Fremont Street in Vegas to meet the players. The buzz that night was off the Richter scale.

None of this happens by accident and I reckon V'landys, Abdo and the NRL team deserve huge credit for having the guts to do something big and risky.

[JohnM]

Touchpaper, match, light........

 

It can be easily argued that the Vegas adventure is nothing more than a vanity project and after three or four years it'll fade away. Given there are really encouraging signs that IMG are making a difference already and this season looks promining for the future of the game in the UK, with BBC FTA coverage raising the game in the national conciousness on a  week-to-week basis, not just for the big games like the Cup Final and the odd international. The proof will come when the Times regularly publshes match reports.

Contentious, no doubt, but it might be argued that the ARLC/NRL is fed up with the state of the sport here. I think that NRL see the US as the long-term future, with SL being the sport's player farm/recovery ward/penal colony.  If the RFL/IMG don't get their act togther soon, NRL really will see the US as the place to take the game, with much more potential than  the rather parochial game in this country. In many ways, Australia displays the same enterprising culture as the US, but with a really odd accent. There do seem to be many more well-heeled potential sports club owners in the US than here. Of course, I don't include the house-of-cards that was Toronto in that. NRL will have to be patient and avoid the game's tendency to think and act short-term, though. After all, its taken MLS some 20 years or more to reach its current level of average crwds of 22,000 and average viewing figs of 500,000 per game. Pateince, very deep pockets and determination will be required.

 

[Maximus Decimus]

It certainly helped that the two games were great and looked lightning fast.

If you'd told me before they'd get 40k, I'd have thought that a tad disappointing but the way they went on made it seem like a huge success. It was infectious and I've no doubt it'll be bigger next year. It looked awesome and the lighting was such that the empty seats weren't crazy obvious.

We have a habit talking down achievements. The initial magic weekend comes to kind, which likewise was below expectations.

[gingerjon]

First, a disclaimer: I travelled to Vegas as a guest of the NRL, along with executives from other media companies. 

Yup. Most of the media coverage reflects this.

[Hanover XIII]

Watched it. Was excited by it. Thought there was some superb rugby played. Stadium looked great event at two-thirds full. Proper sense of an event happening. 

[Barley Mow]

I notice that the BBC Sport website has an article about the incident with Spencer Leniu and Ezra Mam, but don't seem to have any other article that mentions the Vegas opener/doubleheader at all.

Other than recording the scores in their 'fixtures and results' section (as they do for any NRL matches) nothing on the matches or the wider event.

[gingerjon]

5 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

I notice that the BBC Sport website has an article about the incident with Spencer Leniu and Ezra Mam, but don't seem to have any other article that mentions the Vegas opener/doubleheader at all.

Other than recording the scores in their 'fixtures and results' section (as they do for any NRL matches) nothing on the matches or the wider event.

That's a news story - the graphic gives it away albeit discreetly - that has been shunted there automatically. I did think I saw them put an explainer about why the NRL was kicking off in Vegas but can't see it now.

[Gomersall]

3 hours ago, Martyn Sadler said:

Bevan Shields, the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, has sent out an email that illustrates these points.

When I first heard that the NRL was planning to open its 2024 season in Las Vegas, I thought Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys was nuts. How on Earth could this possibly work? How would Australian fans feel about the NRL turning its gaze to the US market, particularly when other codes have tried and failed? And what happens when a player trips up in Sin City?

This week's slightly delayed note comes to you from Las Vegas, where over the past week any scepticism about the NRL's experiment has been shattered. First, a disclaimer: I travelled to Vegas as a guest of the NRL, along with executives from other media companies. The NRL has also assisted with the costs of sending several Herald journalists to be here, but the support has no influence over how we cover the season opener, or my views about whether the venture has been worthwhile.

I am writing this note having just returned from Allegiant Stadium, a stunning $US1.9 billion ($2.9 billion) 65,000-seat covered arena where the NFL's Super Bowl was held just a few weeks ago. As NRL fans would know, the Manly Sea Eagles defeated the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the first game and the Sydney Roosters overran the Brisbane Broncos in the second – a game that was somewhat marred by accusations Roosters recruit Spencer Leniu had called Brisbane five-eighth Ezra Mam a "monkey".

Nearly 41,000 people were in the stadium, a number I believe – racial slur aside – makes the Las Vegas gamble a winner. (The total figure would have been even higher had Vegas not been battered on game day by the strongest winds since 1985, which caused havoc at the airport and in the streets surrounding the stadium.) But the US push is about much more than just filling a stadium. As Adrian Proszenko recently wrote in the Herald, the NRL has thrown all of its chips in with its Vegas gamble, committing to playing games in Sin City until at least the end of 2028. The goal is to get a heap of Americans slowly engaged with the game via the Watch NRL app, which provides fans outside Australia and New Zealand access to all men's and women's competition games, as well as State of Origin. The cost to Americans is $US169 ($229) a year and only 3000 have subscribed.

As V'landys explained it to Proszenko: "If we can get 1 per cent of the US population over five years, that's 3.4 million people. You times that by $US169, that's around $577 million. Even if we were to get half of that, that's more than $250 million. There are 300,000 Australians living in the US. Even if we got half of those, that's an extra $25 million. It's huge."

The booming US sport wagering market is another chance to cash in. NRL chief executive officer Andrew Abdo says sports wagering is being rapidly deregulated in America and fans are embracing the opportunity to bet on matches. A deal is yet to be struck with a betting firm but once it is, the NRL will take a cut of all bets made on the competition.

However, the US market is a notoriously tough nut to crack and we won't know for years whether the league's big goals have been achieved. Or, as the Herald's chief sports writer Andrew Webster put it, if the "Vegas experiment will turn out to be a ridiculously expensive boys' trip to Sin City or a venture that will reap financial rewards for decades".

This week has demonstrated that the NRL is not going to die wondering. The Strip is covered in NRL advertisements with the tagline "No pads. No helmets. No fear." Actor Russell Crowe even filmed a video explaining the rules and history of the NRL. Deals have been struck with hotel companies and tourism authorities for cheaper rates. Clubs that stayed home this year are already lobbying to go to Nevada in 2025.

At the start of last week here in Vegas, there was still a great deal of anxiety about whether this would all turn out to be a fizzer. A key moment occurred on Wednesday evening, when NRL executives breathed a collective sigh of relief at the sight of thousands of fans who packed Fremont Street in Vegas to meet the players. The buzz that night was off the Richter scale.

None of this happens by accident and I reckon V'landys, Abdo and the NRL team deserve huge credit for having the guts to do something big and risky.

Do you have the right edge of the email please?

[Dunbar]

23 hours ago, gingerjon said:

That's a news story - the graphic gives it away albeit discreetly - that has been shunted there automatically. I did think I saw them put an explainer about why the NRL was kicking off in Vegas but can't see it now.

Unfortunately, an Aussie League playing in the US is not going to be high priority sports news in the UK - I wouldn't particularly expect it to be.  If the Super 12 Union decided to play its opening round in Tokyo, I wouldn't expect the BBC to cover it other than the results (its Union I guess so they may do, but I wouldn't expect it).

But the incident with Leniu is the type that kind of transcends the occasion and the actual sport and is newsworthy in its own right.

And that why Leniu is such an idiot.  Firstly, for the comment (if proven, he needs to have a chance to clear his name) but also for his off hand remark at the end which was in the vein of "I said it but it’s no big deal".

We can't blame the BBC but we sure can blame Leniu for spoiling the party somewhat.

Edited March 5 by Dunbar

[gingerjon]

I did find this, mind

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-32214250

[Damien]

24 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

I did find this, mind

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-32214250

From 9 years ago?

Edited March 4 by Damien

[gingerjon]

2 minutes ago, Damien said:

From 9 years ago?

Yes. I post it here for whimsy.

How much changed, how much stayed the same, that sort of thing ...

[Damien]

Talk about feint praise through gritted teeth:

 

 

[DavidM]

Would be good if one day they could do that at Wembley or a big footy ground 

[Worzel]

4 hours ago, gingerjon said:

First, a disclaimer: I travelled to Vegas as a guest of the NRL, along with executives from other media companies. 

Yup. Most of the media coverage reflects this.

Good. That's how you get good PR, and rugby league has failed to do the basics like this for years.