Reports: Super League clubs keen to head to USA for regular-season games
2WNJD17 Spectators watch the NRL match between the Sydney Roosters and the Brisbane Broncos at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Saturday, March 2, 2024. (AP Photo/David Becker)
Could Super League soon follow the NRL and take regular-season games to the United States of America?
That could well be a possibility according to a report from the BBC, who are suggesting that while talks have taken place over the World Club Challenge going Stateside – something which has long since been acknowledged – some Super League chiefs are keen to take regular-season matches across the Atlantic, too.
The report says that some bosses of clubs in the top-flight are interested in potentially hosting league games as part of a potential link-up with the NRL which would also see the World Club Challenge moved to a different continent.
The NRL moved its season opener to the United States for the very first time in March, with a huge fanfare surrounding the double-header that was staged at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
It is not a one-off, either. The plan is for the NRL to return to the US next year and for several years into the future, as part of a plan to grow the game in North America.
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The NRL have already intimidated they would be open to Super League joining the arrangement. And RL Commercial chief Rhodri Jones, plus IMG’s Matt Dwyer, were present in Vegas for the double-header to talk about where Super League fits into the plans moving forwards.
“Matt and I are going to Vegas at the end of the month to see it and grow that relationship with the NRL,” Jones told Love Rugby League in February. “We were eight or ten weeks too late this year in terms of having a valid conversation surrounding Las Vegas and the World Club Challenge: but that’s not to say it couldn’t happen going forward.”
Dwyer said: “There’s a genuine belief that if Wigan had gone to Vegas for the World Club, there’d be 5,000 fans going to help contribute to it. We’re going to go and build those relationship with the NRL; Matt has met Peter V’Landys so there’s a concerted effort to bring the two hemispheres together.”
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