Las Vegas: Regardless of what happens here on Sunday (AEDT) when the NRL holds its historic season-opening double-header at Allegiant Stadium, the Las Vegas experiment can already be a hailed a resounding success - for now.
Unless, of course, someone suffers a season-ending injury, a player runs amok, a coach runs amok, and nobody watches on TV in the US.
But kudos to the NRL for bringing it all together at the last minute, in signature rugby league style.
Less than two months ago, we broke the story in these pages about the NRL being at war with the four participating clubs — South Sydney, Manly, Brisbane and the Roosters — over visas, insurance, and rising costs.
A promotional tour in December barely moved the needle on ticket sales. They had just gone past 20,000 tickets, but sales were moving at a glacial pace.
As it stands today, though, Vegas is starting to catch Rugby League Fever. At least I think that’s what this permanent veneer of sweat on my top lip is.
Brisbane’s Pat Carrigan, Manly’s Tom Trbojevic, Souths’ Latrell Mitchell and the Roosters’ James Tedesco at the NRL Las Vegas Launch on Thursday (AEDT).Credit: Getty
Bars, restaurants, and casinos on the Strip are full of good-spirited rugby league folk from all corners, mostly Australia, and ticket sales are now over 45,000 and rising. Recent sales have come solely from the US. There’s a Scanlens footy card deck of former players everywhere you look.
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys had always set 40,000 as his attendance benchmark for the first of the NRL’s five years in Vegas. Now, they’ve gone past it.
The double-header is getting good traction with local media, on radio, and the game is plastered all over various buildings.
V’landys wants to have $200 million in broadcast and wagering revenue in five years, but the figures that he will be immediately focussing on come Sunday are the ratings on Fox Sports 1 in the US.
Kansas City Chiefs superstar Travis Kelce has told the NRL he won’t be attending the match. Boo!
Of all the headline names the NRL has been chasing to attend the matches, the Super Bowl-winning tight end and Taylor Swift’s plus-one has been atop the list.
The NRL had been working for months on getting Kelce and his brother, Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Jason, to the event but it seemed an impossibility.
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift celebrate the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.Credit: Getty Images
Former South Sydney prop Jordan Mailata, who is an offensive tackle for the Eagles, and Australia-born fashion designer Daniel Patrick, had been critical in trying to woo Kelce to the match.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson has also played a role, helping to put the NRL in touch with one of Kelce’s managers, Brian Mattoni.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo.Credit: Gregg Porteous, NRL Photos
For the past three months, getting Kelce had been a pipedream. That changed when it emerged earlier this week that he had flown from Sydney, where he had been attending one of Swift’s concerts, to Las Vegas, where he and quarterback Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to their third Super Bowl earlier this month.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo boarded the charter flight to Vegas on Tuesday confident that Kelce would be secured by the time he landed.
Alas, Kelce has been just as elusive in Vegas this week as on the field. The Chiefs have been celebrating in Vegas all week — including long stints in the high-rollers room at Resorts World casino, where the NRL teams are staying.
It’s understood the NRL didn’t offer Kelce an appearance fee, which would have been astronomical. Those close to Mailata tell you the Kelce brothers are genuinely interested in rugby league.
Of course, the expected crowd of 45,000 won’t give a flying fig if Kelce is there, but the NRL is smart in trying to hitch its wagon to one of the most recognisable people in the world. That’s right: the world.
Maybe it will happen next year. According to the NRL, there are quite a few celebrities who have bought tickets but have asked for their identity to be withheld from the public.
Good to see the Clovelly Hotel is well represented here in Vegas with former NRL chief executive David Gallop, former Australian Rugby League boss Geoff Carr and well-known player manager Steve “Chimes” Gillis making the trip over.
When I asked Gallop if he ever seriously tried to bring games to the US during his decade running the game, he shrugged: “No, we didn’t - because there was none of the wagering revenue on offer like there is now in the US.”
On that note, not a single sportsbook operator in any of the casinos that your humble columnist may have breezed through appears to be taking bets on the games.
Today host Karl Stefanovic spat out an interesting quote to the Courier-Mail earlier this week: “You can quote me on this … Reece Walsh is the guy most likely to light up the US agents come Sunday.”
Broncos sensation Reece Walsh is a natural in attack.Credit: Getty
I’m not sure if Karlos is overly qualified to judge what NFL clubs want in a player, although he’s right: who wouldn’t be taken aback when the Broncos fullback is gliding over the turf?
The pathway for athletes from another code to join the NFL is the International Player Program, which Mailata, Jarryd Hayne and Valentine Holmes went through with varying success.
The NFL told this column that it won’t be sending any scouts to the match. Again, boo!
Manly are telling themselves they’ve flipped the script on the old ‘Silvertails versus Fibros’ narrative by coming to Vegas early.
While the Roosters, Souths and Brisbane have been living it up in California, attending endless NBA matches when they’re not training, the Sea Eagles have been on the ground in Vegas, promoting the gospel of rugby league. Yes, it’s been very tough for them, seeing Cirque du Soleil and a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon.
THE QUOTE
“Wolverine v Gladiator! Wolverine v Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son. Husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.” — My Uber driver, Erik, was very excited when I told him Russell Crowe owns Souths and Hugh Jackman supports Manly.
THUMBS UP
Roosters five-eighth Luke Keary, one of the good guys of the game, signed a one-year contract extension, which might not seem like much but, in reality, is enormous given how close he was to finishing up a couple of years ago. Battling concussion and injuries, he said he would be amazed if got to the end of his last contract. Now he’s squeezed out another year.
THUMBS DOWN
Not content with taking on Vegas, the NRL earlier this week tried to garner interest in the sport in New York, projecting a giant Steeden in the middle of Times Square. It looked sensational but people still slammed it, saying it was just an ad for Steeden and Westpac. Fair dinkum: it cost the NRL nearly nothing and got New Yorkers curious to find out more.
It’s a big weekend for … Souths coach Jason Demetriou and Manly sparring partner Anthony Seibold. They’ve been sniping at each for a couple of years now, which is surprising because both have enormous seasons ahead of them. They open the season in the first game on Sunday (AEDT).
It’s an even bigger weekend for … Las Vegas. Sure, you’ve been the home for headliners like Frank Sinatra, Elvis and Siegfried and Roy. But how will you be on Sunday after rugby league has swept through like a tidal wave, touching you in a deep and profound manner?
The NRL paid for part of the author’s trip to Las Vegas.
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