Spencer Leniu,Campbell Graham,Billy Walters and Aaron Woods have been spreading the NRL gospel in Las Vegas.

Spencer Leniu,Campbell Graham,Billy Walters and Aaron Woods have been spreading the NRL gospel in Las Vegas.Credit:NRL Photos

“All they kept saying was,‘You’ve only got 24 million people’,” he said. “You don’t have a big enough scale for us to be interested because you don’t have scale. That’s when it hit me:the market that’s obvious is the US because there’s 340 million people who live there.”

NRL followers around the world watch rugby league on Fox via the Watch NRL app.

“We only have 3000 subscribers in US,” V’landys said. “There’s 300,000 Australians living in America. If you can get half of them,that’s another 150,000. But nobody knows that the app exists. It costs US$165 for a subscription for the season. Say we get 150,000 — that’s an additional $10m. The main game is to get the Americans interested,and the only way you’re going to do that is having it on Fox[in the US] every week. The success of this depends on Fox. In order to sell subs,we’ve gotta have it on all the time to get the taste and hopefully people will subscribe.”

The NRL also wants to partner with a sports wagering provider,which will then buy the broadcast rights for their customers who want to bet on rugby league.

“They require a sport that fits that time zone when they don’t have their sports being played in the US,” V’landys said. “Rugby league fits that because it has so many exotic bets. We want to do a deal with a sports wagering provider in the US to give them exclusive vision on their website.”

No such deal is done and seems unlikely before the start of next season,but the NRL is taking a long-term view to cornering the US market.

It ramped up this week with a promotional tour of Las Vegas,Los Angeles and Salt Lake City.

Manly veteran Aaron Woods,Souths centre Campbell Graham,Broncos hooker Billy Walters and Roosters gun recruit Spencer Leniu were put forward by their respective clubs and all of them performed admirably.

This author was one of four reporters the NRL sent to the US to report on their movements. The reaction of locals has been overwhelmingly positive,although whether that translates to ticket sales,wagering revenue and even people playing the sport is the great unknown.

Las Vegas is fast becoming a destination for sports as much as gambling,entertainment and events. The Las Vegas Raiders play in the NFL,the Golden Knights in the NHL and there are hopes of having an MLB and NBA team before 2028.

Last month,the Formula 1 circus rolled into town as the first of a 10-year deal.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has paid the NRL an undisclosed amount for a five-year deal for the NRL to open its season here.

“Unashamedly,we want our sport to be the Australian sport that’s showcased in Las Vegas going nationally across the country,” Abdo,who is now the NRL’s chief executive,said. “We believe in our product,we believe in our game,and this is a huge market. This isn’t about winning fans from other sports. It’s about looking at a new sport.”

Certainly,people I’ve spoken to here in Las Vegas as well as Salt Lake City — where Leniu and Graham visited on Wednesday — are receptive to taking a look. The $19 ticket price appeals.

Rugby Sevens has also been popular in Las Vegas in the past,even though it was held at a ground 20 minutes’ drive from the strip.

The NRL doesn’t just want Americans to watch but consider playing,announcing it will hold a talent combine for college athletes as well as the Vegas Nines.

But the approach has already angered some who have been digging the well for rugby league.

When footage emerged this week of Leniu participating in a training session with the Brighton Bengals junior rugby union team,it outraged the Utah Rugby League Association.

The association has teams named after NRL sides,including the Panthers and Roosters — the team Leniu last played for and the team he has just signed with.

“As the pioneers of rugby league here in Utah,we are very disappointed that the NRL missed the huge opportunity to connect and help grow the sport here in Utah,” George Tupou from the URLA told me. “We are happy that they came and encouraged kids by holding a clinic,but that was for a rugby union club.

Spencer Leniu attends a training session with the Brighton Bengals junior rugby union team.

Spencer Leniu attends a training session with the Brighton Bengals junior rugby union team.

“As an entity that has put forth expressions of interest for 13 teams for the upcoming Vegas Nines tournament,more than any state across the nation,and has junior teams named after the NRL teams these specific players hail from,it is absolutely ludicrous they didn’t do their homework to realise they should have been holding a clinic with the correct sport fostering the growth there.

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“We are hurt and disappointed. We hope the NRL will take note and seek for future opportunities to give back to the community that is actually in their sport.”

The NRL declined to comment when asked for a response.

Other stakeholders are concerned about the cost of holding the matches,not least the NSW and Queensland rugby leagues who continue to battle head office over funding.

“I’m more worried about how many people we get to the game,” V’landys said. “If we got 40,000,I’d be over the moon. If we get that,the costs are nothing.”

Nevertheless,the chairman admits this is his toughest test as a sporting administrator in both racing and rugby league,which is significant given COVID-19 nearly killed the game because there wasn’t enough money in the bank.

“It is the toughest,” he said. “But everyone said I wouldn’t beat the corporate bookmakers in the high court — we did. Everyone said The Everest would be a failure — it wasn’t. Everyone said we couldn’t get the NRL back on May 28 — we did. This by far the hardest challenge because you’re trying to attract a whole new market to your sport.”

The author travelled to Las Vegas and Salt Lake City courtesy of the NRL.

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