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In the city center of Las Vegas, thousands of Rugby league supporters have gathered on both sides of the world in the Fremont Street.
You will see all kinds of Vegas in the bars and casinos, but nothing of the sort. A mass assembly of Rugby fans to observe eight different teams for the Allegian Stadium.
Wiganer, Aussies, Kiwis – many in their club jerseys – mingled with happy and there was also a certain American interest in this modern sporting curiosity.
Wigan is located in Las Vegas to play Warrington in a great League game on foreign soil. So far so interesting. However, the match is only part of a four-time header, in which two NRL games and a women’s test game between England and Australia are also played.
Wigan captain Liam Farrell has described the circus around the event of the weekend as “bonkers”, and the Warriors and Warrington are supported by around 10,000 English fans in a lot that are expected to approach 50,000.
In truth, the majority of the support here for the NRL teams, the competition based in Australia, which recently announced record gains for 2024. The bar-rich league brought two games to the Allegian Stadium to open their season last year, and the event attracted around 40,000 fans. This prompted Kris Radlinski, the managing director of Wigan, to contact the NRL to ask whether Super League could connect to the party in 2025.
Warrington asked the Warriors, who won every offered trophy last season and were crowned with the BBC Sports personality team of the year. The answer was a clinging “yes”.
Both clubs are supported by wealthy owners and believe that their daring and ambitious ambitious ambition can increase the profile of the Super League outside of the traditional enclaves in the north of England.
Wigan and Warrington are of course massively supported by impressive support from the NRL, which showed last year that it can pull huge crowds in Vega’s.
This indicates that taking a Super League game in the States can be successful, where the rugby of the Premiership failed.
Saracens played independent Premiership games in New Jersey and Philadelphia in 2016 and 2017, but the crowds were poor and since then they have not been back.
Wigan has close connections to Sarries, but also an ever greater relationship with the NRL and it is the Australians to which they have turned to advice.
“After Vegas, it has never been about earning money or cracking America. This is about increasing the profile of the Super League and seeing where it can lead us,” says Radlinski. “It was a calculated decision and we are lucky enough to have an owner [Wigan-born billionaire Mike Danson] Whoever says “I want to have eye apples in the rugby league”.
“I was challenged on the cost base, but in the end that’s greater than that. This is about the future direction of sport. “
With the Broadcast deal with Sky Sports, who has treated the Super League since it was founded in 1996 and has recently fallen strongly, the hope that the competition after Vegas will give the British game an urgently needed shot.
“I think it has to be,” added Radlinski. “In the last month, since the beginning of the season, there was a great interest in the fact that we went to Vegas and Sky Sports really drove this game forward.
“On the Super Sunday last week after Manchester City Liverpool defeated, they talked about Roy Keane and Micah Richards about at least 50 million viewers worldwide.
“We are on the world stage this weekend and I didn’t know what would expect.
“But I went up the strip this week and saw fans from every rugby League club in Great Britain. This will not solve all of our problems, but it has captured the imagination.
“The NRL said that after Vega’s last year there was a” Halo effect “on the game to Vegas and I think that happens in the UK Rugby League.
“In the first two rounds of the season, crowds and digital commitment expired.”
Optimisim for a better future
There is talk of the NRL that buys a participation in Super League, and Radlinski adds: “It is [NRL] The leading competition in the world. In the last 10 months that prepare me for this game, I had meetings every fourteen days and was on the call 20 people from each individual department of the NRL.
“I don’t want Las Vegas to ram the throat of all the wheels – this is not the answer – but I just hope that there is a certain optimism for the future of the game and that we can be part of it.”
The NRL has a five-year contract to play in Vegas, and it is expected that two other Super League teams will be part of the 2026-incoming.
Radlinski says: “A movement happens and it is up to us as a sport to grasp it.”
When the professional English rugby was last played in the United States, Saracens Newcastle defeated Falcons in front of 6,271 fans in Philadelphia.
Participation in Vegas on Saturday will put this in the shade, but the real challenge for Super League could be to make this event a permanent game in the calendar and to enjoy serious growth on the back.
