LONDON is vying with Abu Dhabi to do a Las Vegas – as early as next year.
The Allegiant Stadium is hosting two NRL season-opening matches this weekend as well as the Super League round three clash between Hull KR and Leeds.
It was the third time the 13-a-side game has gone to Vegas, and the second time Super League clubs have been involved after Wigan played Warrington twelve months ago.
While the current deal to play in Vegas runs to 2028, according to reports in Australia, the NRL are considering having two locations for early-campaign games next year – with London top of the ‘second-venue’ list.
England has real appeal due to the existing Super League fanbase and the rising profile of London Broncos, now of course under Australian ownership, while October’s Ashes Test at Wembley attracted 60,812.
Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is also seen as a strong hosting contender, while Hong Kong and Japan have also been mentioned.
Quizzed by Australia’s Daily Telegraph over the potential locations, Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys said: “Out of all of them, to be honest, that (London) is the easiest.”
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo added: “We’ve got lots of expats in London, lots of Rugby League fans, and it’s also a destination people will come to and gather at to celebrate for a week, not just for a game.”
NRL subscriptions doubled in 2024, the first year of Vegas, and grew a further 67 percent last year, with V’landys well aware of the strong correlation between international exposure and those figures.
“Increasing sales of Watch NRL is the biggest thing for us because that’s what drives revenue,” he said.
“Since we’ve been to Las Vegas, subscriptions have increased substantially. That has basically supported the idea to go to London.”
V’landys continued: “Consider the A-League (football) in Australia. It’s a great game, but the competition (that most fans want to watch) is the Premier League in England.
“There are also a lot of Super League fans in England, but the best Rugby League competition in the world is the NRL.
“If you use that analogy, there’s no reason why people in England shouldn’t be subscribing in the millions to Watch NRL, and in business, you want to maximise revenue.”
Meanwhile Abdo explained: “As opposed to having them all during a single round, it might be that we actually play a series of games across the first few weeks of the season.
“There are so many different ways we can do it. But the important thing is that the strength of what we’ve done in Las Vegas now means that when we’re having conversations with other countries, other governments and tourism bureaus, they are taking us really seriously.”