By Dan Walsh
The NRL is targeting its biggest Las Vegas venture yet – with the potential to crack 50,000 fans attending the season-opener on US soil for the first time – as the governing body weighs up when the Perth Bears will make the trip as the game’s newest franchise.
Canterbury’s inclusion for the 2026 season kick-off alongside local rivals St George Illawarra, Newcastle, North Queensland and Super League’s Leeds Rhinos and Hull KR was confirmed on Wednesday, while the women’s fixture was axed from this year’s schedule.
Melbourne were left aggrieved though, Storm chief executive Justin Rodski describing the decision to omit the club as “a missed opportunity to put rugby league front and centre in both the US and Victoria right at the start of the AFL season.”
While impressed with the Storm’s bid, the NRL’s preference to have a Queensland side among the quartet, and Canterbury and St George Illawarra pitching effectively as a package deal, meant the perennial premiership contenders were squeezed out.
The Bulldogs and Dragons are expected to draw healthy travelling contingents from two of the game’s biggest fan bases. Canterbury fielded about 8000 expressions of interest from people about travelling to Las Vegas when fans were polled earlier this year. The two clubs have to share the gate from their two games in 2026.
The Bulldogs now boast the biggest crowds of any club in Sydney and are averaging attendances of 35,700 after breaking the record for a regular season turnout (65,603) when they hosted South Sydney on Good Friday.
The Bears are back. So when are they going to Vegas?Credit: Steven Siewert
Meanwhile, the Perth Bears will enter the competition in 2027 as the NRL’s 18th franchise, joining the Storm, Eels, Titans, Dolphins and Tigers as teams not to have played in Las Vegas by that point. Wests Tigers chief Shane Richardson has been vehemently opposed to the NRL’s US venture and is adamant the Tigers will not take part on his watch.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said plans for Perth’s first game are yet to be fully considered as the club prepares to finalise its front office and weighs up coaching candidates, including Brad Arthur, Mal Meninga and Sam Burgess.
“Those first few matches for the Bears and the PNG side, we’ll be thinking about how we can make sure those are really special occasions for both their fans and rugby league in general,” Abdo said.
“We haven’t gotten that far yet in terms of the 2027 draw, and there are several clubs that are really keen to go to Las Vegas and may have missed out on the last couple of years, so we’ll work with them as well.
The Bulldogs will be beating the drums in Las Vegas next March.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
“But it’s exciting to be talking about expansion teams entering the competition in 2027-28.”
This year’s Las Vegas fixture drew a crowd figure of 45,209 after the NRL had hoped for 50,000-60,000 for the four games.
Canterbury’s inclusion for 2026 has skipper Stephen Crichton anticipating the wild scenes in Bulldogs heartland – featuring DJs, tribal drums and fans taking over suburban streets – will be replicated on the Las Vegas strip.
“It’ll be pretty crazy to see our fans there with the drums,” Crichton said. “I’ll be really proud to stand there and represent them as well while they’re in the fan club, and then play our backsides off with them travelling over. It’s going to be a really special experience.”
Rodski said Melbourne will turn their attention to a 2027 Las Vegas bid in due time and contend themselves with the silver lining of “winning the premiership and going to England to play the World Club Challenge instead.”
“But the demand we had from fans, members, Storm sponsors and corporate [partners] to go this year was off the charts,” he said. “We think it’s a missed opportunity, but we’ll move on.”
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