Las Vegas – When Australia's National Rugby League decided to expand its reach into the United States, it clearly used the American sport as a model.
The NFL, which plays its regular-season games in London every year, is in the midst of a four-year deal with Germany and will expand to Brazil for the first time in September. Matches in London are often sold out, with tickets for last year's tour to Germany running out within 15 minutes.
The NRL is now bringing matches overseas to the United States, following plans first mooted in 2020 as Australia and other countries grappled with the onset of the coronavirus outbreak.
The four NRL teams open their season on Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, which hosted the Super Bowl on February 11. The matches are Manly Warringah Sea Eagles vs. South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters vs. Brisbane Broncos.nationally televised in the United States
Damian Cook, who plays for South Sydney, said: “Many of us believe in and enjoy the NFL back home, and we want people to be just as passionate about our game here in America.'' . “Rugby) The San Diego team started with four teams, but now they're up to 14 teams, so it's definitely starting to pick up here. Hopefully this game this weekend gives them a really good boost and the U.S. “A lot of people are going to like our game.'' ”
Saturday's game is the first in a five-year deal to bring NRL teams to Las Vegas, with new clubs rotating in over the next few years.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said: “We do see other big sports leagues around the world, like the NFL, looking at international growth and international expansion.” . “For us, it’s also multidimensional.”
Abdo said this meant the NRL wasn't just playing two games and going home. The goal was also to organize a series of events to help promote the league, including a two-day national club tournament and Thursday night Fan Fest at the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas.
The ultimate goal is to create and grow an American fan base, similar to how the English Premier League has attracted a strong core of American supporters who follow teams such as Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham. It's about letting it happen.
To achieve that goal, the NRL is first working on expanding to the West Coast, primarily because Saturday game times come during the hours Australians are awake on Sunday. The four teams were sent to three locations to train and promote the league in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego before convening in Nevada this week.
Oscar winner Russell Crowe, who grew up in Australia and is part owner of the Rabbitohs, narrated a five-minute YouTube video explaining the rules to American fans. The video has been viewed 1.2 million times on X (formerly Twitter). It is also used on broadcast television and on-demand platforms.
“We believe that once Americans are exposed to our sport, they will follow our sport in addition to the American sport they love,” Abdo said.
The NRL is hugely popular Down Under, but staging regular season matches in far-flung countries that have not previously shown widespread interest in the sport risks alienating those die-hard fans. But Abdo said the response was positive, with around 14,000 tickets sold to Australian fans.
Three Sydney television stations and two newspapers also sent reporters to cover the event.
All four teams traveled last week to get used to the time difference, but this wasn't just a business trip.
Each team organized it like a college football team's bowl trip, touring the sights of Las Vegas and Southern California. For the Manly players, that included watching an NHL game between the Vegas Golden Knights and Toronto Maple Leafs, while the Brisbane players watched an NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs.
“It's really exciting for us,” Manly player Reuben Garrick said. “I think the US loves their sport and we feel we have a really good brand here. We want to show how exciting rugby league and the NRL can be. I'm really looking forward to playing at Allegiant Stadium.”
He described his first impression of Las Vegas as “larger than life.” It's much bigger than anyone explained to us. ”
Texas has long maintained that everything is bigger at Texas, but Brooks' teammate Ethan Bremore traveled to Dallas last year to attend the Red River Rivalry game between college football powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma. I understood this when I watched the game. He is an unabashed Longhorns fan, rooting for his team from approximately 13,500 miles away.
“I think the way Americans play sports is just amazing,” Bremore said. “It helps that we have a large population, and it's very state-based. If we can start penetrating the U.S. market and show them what our game is about, that's a great opportunity for the game. I think it will only grow our game further and put it on the global stage and then come back to Australia and strengthen it.”
___
AP Rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
