Walking through the stands of Allegiant Stadium, ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys was stopped by a Warriors fan who just wanted to say thank you.
Because for the first time in his 70-odd years, he’d found a reason to leave New Zealand.
“That made me so happy,” V’landys said. “This bloke’s first international trip was to here to Vegas to follow his Warriors, and we made that happen.”
The Las Vegas concept has had plenty of knockers. Question marks over whether the venture would yield a financial windfall dominated the conversation leading into its inception last year.
The spectacle left fans in Australia yearning to get a taste of Sin City for themselves, yet the question remained. Was the glitz and glamour translating into an impact on the game’s bottom line?
It’s a closely guarded secret at NRL headquarters, but it’s estimated the game lost close to $1 million in the first year it sent players to the United States.
Jakiya Whitfield celebrates a try for Australia.Credit: Getty Images
Now, just two years into a five-year plan, the NRL was trumpeting a small profit.
“It’s not all about money,” V’landys says, probably for the first time in his career.
And in this instance, it wasn’t.
Rugby league is on the map. It took over Las Vegas – injecting almost $US80 million into the city.
The NRL has dominated the headlines for a week. In their ongoing war with the AFL, the bigwigs in Melbourne must be watching with envy as their biggest rivals knocked them out of the park.
“The whole idea was to make money out of Watch NRL and sports betting,” V’landys said.
“Already Watch NRL has gone up 87 per cent in America. Admittedly, it’s a small base, but it’s still a massive growth. You only have to get a small percentage of the market. We’re never going to be the NFL or the NBA. We’re not that delusional. But what we want is a very small share that will yield in the tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars.
“We’ve got a lot of work still to be done. The success for us is when we break into the American market. I’m very confident, more than ever, that we will. I think we can do a lot better, and we will do better. People have got to give it time.”
The NRL covered plenty of ground – and trucks- in Las Vegas.Credit: Billie Eder
It might not all be about t’s not about money, but it certainly helps when you can make it considering the non-financial upside of the NRL’s expedition into foreign territory.
“It’s costing us nothing. We broke even this year, if not a small profit,” V’landys said.
“We’re hoping to make a little bit. In previous years we spent a million dollars launching the season and had no cut-through whatsoever. All of a sudden, everyone knows the opening round of the NRL back in Australia. What really made me happy was the message I received that the pubs and clubs are full back in Australia. Name another time in the opening round when that happened?
“It’s now an event. It’s a dream come true for me. Sometimes you have the vision and the vision turns to a blur. In this instance, it worked. Even the harshest critics will have to say what the NRL has done is extraordinary. This is going to be around for a long time. There’s no doubt about that. Why wouldn’t we?”
The atmosphere created by the English supporters only added to the occasion. Wigan, the Super League champions who knocked off Penrith in last year’s World Club Challenge, were far too strong for Sam Burgess’ Warrington in the opening game of the day.
The Wigan fans, sitting next to the Canberra at one end of the ground, adopted the Raiders and began chanting together as Ricky Stuart’s men produced a dominant performance to topple the underwhelming Warriors.
Then Penrith just kept doing Penrith things. No James Fisher-Harris, no Jarome Luai, no Brian To’o, no Liam Henry. Their attack wasn’t pretty, but their defence was as reliable as ever. Not a game for the ages, but the only one that kept the crowd engaged through to the 80th minute.
If there was a dark spot on a bright afternoon for the sport, it was the cricket score the Jillaroos put on against the England side. A 90-4 drubbing that took the energy out of the stadium and was the talking point among rugby league club heavyweights in the VIP suite.
Matt Timoko and Xavier Savage celebrate.Credit: AP
No one had an issue with the ladies being thrust onto centre stage, rather the decision to pin the Aussies against an England side who were never going to provide the type of quality to create even the slightest contest.
Club powerbrokers suggested it should have been a State of Origin match between NSW and Queensland, or perhaps an NRLW grand final rematch between the Sydney Roosters and Cronulla Sharks.
An Australia-New Zealand Test match would have provided a more even contest, but the NZRL couldn’t afford to spend the money on its players, opening the door for England to play against the Australians for the first time in eight years.
“We always knew the score was going to be something like that,” V’landys said.
“We were aware of that because we have a professional competition and are so far ahead of the rest of the world. The other jurisdictions aren’t going to catch up until they have a professionally run competition like we have.
“At the same time, we’ve showcased the talent, the skill, the ability of our women. I don’t care what the score was. We wanted to show off our women, and we did.”
Two down, three more years to go. The NRL already has eyes on its next endeavour. It doesn’t want to loosen its grip on the United States and is exploring the possibility of taking the season opener to cities like Miami, Los Angeles and New York City.
Then there’s London calling; the prospect of 90,000 people at the iconic Wembley Stadium. You’d be brave to bet against them pulling it off.
The Herald’s travel expenses to Las Vegas have been partly funded by the NRL
