Papua New Guinea eyes 2028 NRL debut in Las Vegas
The NRL has hit a 15-year attendance high in Las Vegas, where a wide-eyed politician wants the competition’s newest team to make an historic debut.
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Rugby league lived the American dream on a balmy night in Las Vegas, where the game hit a 15-year attendance high and had the Papua New Guinea government wanting urgent top-level talks.
As the NRL posted its biggest crowd for a season opener since 2010 – 45,209 – a high-ranking PNG politician urged league bosses to let the competition’s newest team make an historic debut in Vegas in 2028.
PNG Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko was floored by the Vegas experience. He watched on as fans in an array of club jerseys provided a kaleidoscope of colour while the game took flight in the US under the roof at Allegiant Stadium.
Supporters from across the globe made the pilgrimage to Sin City – 20,000 from Australia, 10,000 from the UK and a similar number from New Zealand.
They saw defending premiers Penrith defeat Cronulla 28-22, Canberra topple the Warriors 30-8, Australia obliterate England 90-4 in a women’s Test, and English champions Wigan beat Warrington 48-24.
In the VIP area, current and former Australian ambassadors to the US, Kevin Rudd and Joe Hockey, rubbed shoulders with dignitaries, business and media leaders.
The singing of the American national anthem midway through proceedings brought ear-splitting applause, three US Air Force jets buzzed overhead, and Aussie acts Conrad Sewell and the Stafford Bros took to the stage.
ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys described Vegas 2.0 as “fantastic”.
“The atmosphere is unbelievable, it’s at another level,” he added. “But we keep learning every year.
That’s why it’s a five-year plan. We haven’t got to where I want to be, to where I’d be happy.
“It’s a learning curve. Everyone’s saying how successful it is but I’m a hard marker and we can do better.”
Amid the euphoria, Mr Tkatchenko voiced a new ambition for PNG rugby league.
“I’m already talking to the NRL to say our first NRL match in 2028 should be here,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“It can celebrate our inclusion. Peter V’landys and the team seem happy with the idea.
“We will absolutely make a formal submission because this would promote PNG, promote the game.
In PNG, rugby league unites us even though we have 1000 tribes and 800 different languages.”
Mr Hockey was another blown away by a week culminating in the four-game extravaganza broadcast across America on the Fox network.
“It’s good for Australia, great for rugby league,” he said.
“The thing is, unless you arrive in the US with a presence you have no presence.
“Well, the NRL has captured not only Las Vegas but achieved plenty of coverage elsewhere in the US.
“The messaging this year – fast sport, no padding – was a great story. You need that five-second line in the US if you’re going to get cut through.”
Mr Hockey said patience was still required.
“The US is 50 different countries,” he added. “It takes time. You’ve just got to find a niche and then overnight it could be, all of a sudden, bigger than even Australia.”
V’landys holds the same opinion. There is work to do but the rewards can be reaped.
“Everything I’ve done in my career, people don’t get it in the beginning so they bag it,” V’landys said.
“I remember with The Everest. Every negative on Earth was thrown at me. We proved them wrong.
“During Covid. it was the same. They were saying ‘oh, you won’t be playing, you’re kidding yourself’. We proved them wrong.
“Vegas is in that category. There are those who don’t see the future. They can’t see you’ve got to build it, invest in it, and grow it.”
Mal Meninga has seen a lot as a player, coach and legend. But Vegas blew his mind.
“It’s awesome … just how big it is,” he said.
“The fan fest during the week took me by surprise.
“I just wasn’t quite prepared for what I’ve seen and I’m hopeful it’s going to continue to grow.”
Alongside the NRL and Super League, exposure for the women’s game was unprecedented.
Their integration into media and marketing opportunities were telling in a country where the value of professional leagues for female sports is rising exponentially.
The Las Vegas Aces play in the WNBA. NFL legend Tom Brady is a part-owner. In the early 2000s the club was sold for $3.2m. It is now worth $225m.
Las Vegas tourism boss Steve Hill declared rugby league a “tent pole event” for the city.
He wants NRL on his calendar permanently, alongside NFL, UFC and myriad celebrity shows headlining nightly on the strip.
A Major League Baseball club is also coming to Vegas in 2028 and the NBA is likely to launch an expansion team in 2029.
UFC operations chief Lawrence Epstein says it is a city that major sports want to be in because events in Vegas are watched by the world.
NRL is in there. Established as a same time, same place event after just two trips. The seeds for a global fan base are planted.
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Originally published as Papua New Guinea eyes 2028 NRL debut in Las Vegas
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