Las Vegas is a surreal place. But even so, a bus of media and league executives couldn’t quite believe their eyes when they travelled to Allegiant Stadium for the NRL’s gala kick-off and saw police were escorting their bus along Sammy Davis Jr Drive.
The officers ensured they weren’t troubled by a red light before it delivered them into the bowels of the arena and straight onto the freshly installed turf tray.
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas plays host to the opening games of the NRL season.Credit: Getty Images
It was a theatrical start to an ambitious day, featuring an aristocracy of the rugby league and media worlds – with a few political addendums – who had been transplanted from the antipodes to a neon-lit desert town halfway across the world.
In the black and white chairman’s room, over which Australian Rugby League chairman Peter V’landys presided like a lord, the spectre of a new round of broadcast rights negotiations hung heavily in the air.
“I’ve been geeing them all up in there, because we’ve got everyone in there – Channel Nine, Channel Seven … we’ve got Fox,” V’landys says, “so every so often I just give them a little tickle-up to make sure they’re alert.”
Nine and Foxtel, the latter until recently owned by News Corp, have the rights until 2027, but V’landys has said he wants to begin work on the next deal. The value of sports to broadcasters is growing; he has signalled that this time there may be more suitors as traditional media struggles for revenue and streamers such as Netflix move into the market.
The NRL continues its bold foray into the US sports market. Credit: Bryce Cacpal
A talk during the week at an NRL business forum about the increasing value of sports rights left club bosses starry-eyed and media executives ashen-faced.
Nine, the owner of this masthead, sent some of its most senior executives to Las Vegas, including chair Catherine West, acting chief executive Matt Stanton, and board member and WIN chief executive Andrew Lancaster. They were joined by publishing boss Tory Maguire, executive editor Luke McIlveen and The Sydney Morning Herald editor Bevan Shields.
There were potentially awkward moments for the Nine team, with former chief executive Mike Sneesby spotted in the chairman’s room, as well as longtime 2GB broadcaster and rugby league caller Ray Hadley, who left the station late last year.
Stanton and Sneesby were spotted having a tête-à-tête on the couches in the corner.
Lachlan Murdoch didn’t come again this year; it has been a tough few weeks for the scion’s family amid revelations of a schism over control of the company (V’landys still paid an effusive tribute to his friend, saying rugby league owed its world profile to the promotion of the game by Murdoch’s company, US Fox Sports).
But Robert Thomson, the Australian-born chief executive of News Corp who has long been close to mogul Rupert, was there, flanked by senior News Corp executives such as Michael Miller, the executive chairman of the Australian arm, Foxtel boss Patrick Delaney, and Daily Telegraph editor Ben English.
Seven sent its director of news and current affairs, Anthony De Ceglie. The Daily Mail’s US executive editor, former Sunday Telegraph journalist Barclay Crawford, flew in from New York.
Elle Macpherson couldn’t come, Donald Trump and UFC boss Dana White didn’t accept their invitations (although UFC COO Lawrence Epstein was there) but rugby league luminaries added their brand of star power; they included ARL commissioner Wayne Pearce, Sharks alumnus Andrew Ettingshausen, NSW coach Laurie Daley and Australian coach Mal Meninga.
There were senior executives from most clubs, including the Bulldogs, the Roosters, Manly, Parramatta, Souths and Newcastle. NSW Rugby League boss David Trodden and PNG bid CEO Andrew Hill came too.
Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire’s son Joe, who plays college football for Ohio state, also came, as did Sydney-born WWE wrestler Grayson Waller and some players from the LA Rams (who watched the match from a suite).
There were politicians, but a few bear pit retirees enjoyed the pies, prawns and “Atomic Duck” brew; US ambassador (and former prime minister) Kevin Rudd caught up with his predecessor, Joe Hockey, while BHP’s external affairs boss (and former NSW premier) Dominic Perrottet chatted with International Rugby League chair (and former deputy premier) Troy Grant.
The gender balance of a blokey room was boosted by the attendance of Las Vegas Raiders president Sandra Douglass Morgan.
V’landys said attracting VIPs to the event was important. “To get cut-through you need these people,” he said.
After the football, the NRL party had one last gasp at an official after-party, featuring US rapper T Pain. But that’s enough about that. What happens in Vegas …
The author flew to Las Vegas as a guest of the NRL.
