Las Vegas: Everywhere you looked around the Death Star — the nickname of Las Vegas’ 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium — it wasn’t hard to find examples of why the NRL’s ambitious decision to open the 2024 season in a foreign land had been a success.
Just before kick-off in the first match between Manly and South Sydney, fans of all four participating clubs filled the first two levels of the stadium which only three weeks ago hosted the NFL’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
Down at the Wynn Field Club at ground level, which borders the northern end zone, ghosts of rugby league’s past filled booths with black-leather seats and table service that only a few weeks ago hosted the likes of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
Former ARL chief executive Geoff Carr — one of the few genuine rugby league people still standing — stood on his own before kick-off, surveying the scene, and almost seemed overwhelmed.
“I’ll wait until the games are over before I make judgement,” Carr said. “But I’d never thought I’d see something like this.”
Outside the ground, Nevada Commission on Tourism boss Lisa Motley was high-fiving Australians she had never met. The deal struck with the NRL lasts five years and is worth $1.25 million, but Motley is already talking about an extension.
Manly and South Sydney kick off the historic double-header at Allegiant Stadium.Credit: NRL Photos
For a greater understanding about what the NRL achieved on Sunday (AEDT) with its ambitious season-opening double-header, you needed to look up at the private suites, which are usually occupied on game day by the families of the quarterback and other star players.
On this night, though, one of the suites belonged to Brisbane Broncos diehard and News Corp chairman Lachlan Murdoch. Sitting next to him was James Packer, a former Rooster director but now Souths part-owner.
The significance was impossible for older heads to ignore.
In another life, the once-young media moguls stood on opposite sides of the trenches during the Super League War. Murdoch was a key lieutenant for the rebel league while Packer protected the interests of his father, Kerry, who owned host broadcaster Channel Nine.
The Sea Eagles celebrate during their win over South Sydney in Las Vegas.Credit: Getty
One of the key selling points of Super League was that it was going to take the game to the world — China, specifically, according to chief executive John Ribot. Everyone scoffed at that and said it was just plain silly.
Now here they were, Murdoch and Packer, in the same private suite, in Las Vegas, in an NFL stadium that cost US$2 billion to build, watching two matches of rugby league.
Could they have known in the 1990s that this day would ever come? Could any of us?
No, we could not, but the vision of ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys — along with a hard-working NRL team and the four clubs — has made it possible.
For months, V’landys has been insisting to all and sundry that the Vegas experiment would pay off, netting tens of millions of dollars in wagering revenue and international broadcast rights. About $200 million over five years, he predicts.
But when I cornered him at the back of the field club, and we looked out over the heaving crowd, he was unusually cautious.
“It still feels surreal,” he said. “When we all get home, I’ll feel better. Come and see me on Wednesday. But I’m getting texts from people back in Sydney saying the atmosphere is coming through [on] the TV. This is just another level. It’s what the game deserves.”
Was this the scene he envisaged last April when the Vegas idea was first flagged?
“Better,” he said. “The ground generates a lot more energy than I expected.”
The first gauge of success was the crowd.
A figure of 38,853 was posted for the first match, an entertaining 36-24 win to Manly after a pedestrian first half.
For the second, a figure of 40,746 was posted for the Roosters in their 20-10 win over the Broncos.
The NRL won’t know for years if their Vegas experiment will turn out to be a ridiculously expensive boys’ trip to Sin City or a venture that will reap financial rewards for decades.
Reece Walsh celebrates a try in the Broncos’ defeat to the Roosters in game two.Credit: AP
V’landys wants to cash in on the booming sports wagering market in the US, which has been legalised in many states after the Supreme Court overturned legislation banning it.
“We won’t know the benefits for three to four years,” V’landys said. “When rugby league has tried to come here before, it never had the technology, the sports betting, that we have now. We have an opportunity now. If we can penetrate the market just 0.01 per cent, that’s tens of millions of dollars.
“It won’t happen overnight, but this is a bloody good start. Success for me is revenue. It’s not a full stadium, it’s revenue that I can put back into the game to grow the game.”
Fears that the matches would turn into a slog-fest between forwards in the middle of the park, on account of a narrower and shorter field, did not materialise.
Indeed, some things never change, no matter where the match is held.
For Manly, it was a triumphant return from injury for fullback Tom Trbojevic, but the win came at a cost with winger Jason Saab suffering a hamstring injury.
For the Roosters, captain and fullback James Tedesco answered theories that his best football was behind him with a commanding display.
Then there’s Roosters chairman Nick Politis, who was heard yelling loudly in support of Saab when he made a break — because they were playing Souths.
Some things never change. Like the hate.
Andrew Webster’s trip to Las Vegas was funded by the NRL.
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