The NSW Labor government rejected an offer to secure hosting rights for the first games of top-league American football in Australia after being presented with a “ballpark” cost of $15 million a game.

After the cash-strapped Victorian Labor government announced on Thursday it had landed a multiyear deal with the National Football League to host games featuring the Los Angeles Rams, NSW Premier Chris Minns said he rejected the proposal because the NFL – regularly ranked as the world’s richest sport by revenue – wanted a “king’s ransom”.