Rugby league’s last bold foray into the United States was a calamity.
The occasion was the Denver Test, a clash between the New Zealand and England national teams, at Mile High Stadium in 2018. Your correspondent was on duty at the event, which was intended to finally thrust the “Greatest Game of All” into the consciousness of the cashed-up American sports fan.
The promoter, who had successfully brought two Major League Baseball franchises to Sydney a decade ago, had slated the Denver Test as the precursor to North America staging the 2025 Rugby League World Cup. After the first event failed, the second was abandoned. It remains a cautionary tale, a reminder that a foreign form of football won’t move the needle in a saturated sporting market unless the execution is perfect.
In hindsight, the Denver Test was doomed from the start. The NRL and the players’ association opposed the match and refused to promote it. Little wonder that a crowd of less than 20,000, about a quarter of the stadium’s capacity, clicked through the turnstiles.
At the same time, Major League Baseball fans were streaming into the neighbouring Coors Field to cheer the local team, the Colorado Rockies.
Just after half-time, the official attendance for the Denver Test was announced over the loudspeaker. It was the moment the promoter knew he had done his dough; the figure was half he needed to finish in the black. With the financier unable to pay the bills, the players were left unpaid for months.
The mood of the clubs, already upset that their stars were placed at risk of injury, didn’t improve when a freak storm delayed their return. A plane scheduled to bring several Sydney-based players home was hit by lightning and the hold-up ruled them out of yet another premiership fixture.
Even six years later, at a recent meeting with the NRL’s top brass, the mere mention of Denver was enough to chill the temperature of the room.
So what lessons have been learnt from the Denver debacle?
What the NRL must do to avoid a repeat of the Denver debacle
14
2
26.02.2024
Rugby league’s last bold foray into the United States was a calamity.
The occasion was the Denver Test, a clash between the New Zealand and England national teams, at Mile High Stadium in 2018. Your correspondent was on duty at the event, which was intended to finally thrust the “Greatest Game of All” into the consciousness of the cashed-up American sports fan.
The promoter, who had successfully brought two Major League Baseball franchises to Sydney a decade ago, had slated the........
© The Sydney Morning Herald
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Rami G Khouri
Mort Laitner
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
