Australian rugby league to open season at Allegiant Stadium
Those behind Australia’s biggest sport are looking to Las Vegas to help grow its popularity in the United States.
The National Rugby League will host a doubleheader March 2 at Allegiant Stadium to kick off the 2024 season. They will be regular-season matches and count in the standings.
The games, which will feature the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Sydney Roosters and the Brisbane Broncos, will mark the first time the NRL will play matches in the U.S.
“We’re excited to bring our games to America,” NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said. “West Coast is important for us because of the time zone. These are opening week Premiership matches, so we’re going to have a huge audience back in Australia. Being on the West Coast allows us to play the games on a Saturday evening here while it goes onto prime time on a Sunday back in Australia.”
The NRL signed a five-year deal to bring the matches to Las Vegas, but the league hopes to continue to bring games to the valley beyond that while also exploring other U.S. markets.
Comparing the NRL to the NFL, Abdo said rugby is more action-packed with less down time. Players in the NRL execute on offense and defense with each team having 17 players, with 13 on the field and four substitutes.
“The game is on for 80 minutes, and the clock doesn’t stop very much,” Abdo said. “The players are on the field for the full 80 minutes. There’s a lot of action and continuity that goes into it. U.S. sports fans, not just NFL, will engage with the sport because it is so action-packed and because it is fast.”
Adding the rugby matches to the annual calendar for the next five years is also a move by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to draw more international visitors to Southern Nevada.
“We’ve been focused on bringing international sporting events here since Allegiant opened, starting with the CONCACAF Gold Cup Finals,” said Lisa Motley, vice president of sports and special events at the LVCVA. “We saw a great influx of international visitors coming for soccer.”
The NRL said 18,000 tickets already have been sold, with 10,000 of them purchased by fans from Australia.
“Vegas is a great fit for us because a lot of our fans like to travel,” Abdo said. “To watch a regular game in Vegas and then enjoy everything there is to offer here, we’ve seen a huge response from fans. It was all part of the strategy, and it’s a long term play.”
Further looking to grow a connection with the sport and the U.S., the NRL will host a talent combine March 2 at Clark High School before the doubleheader, at which the top two male and top two female participants will win a two-week trip to Australia to try out for rugby league teams.
The NRL brought four of its stars to Las Vegas this week. They visited various landmarks and attended the Raiders-Vikings game Sunday at Allegiant Stadium, and plan to attend the Raiders-Chargers game on “Thursday Night Football.”
The players said they are looking forward to returning to Las Vegas in March to play their own games at Allegiant Stadium.
“It’s going to be hard to focus on the game thinking about what I want to do afterward,” Campbell Graham of the South Sydney Rabbitohs said jokingly. “I am extremely excited to come out here and put on a performance. The Americans clearly love their sport, and we have a product to get you guys enticed and enjoy our performance.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
