Las Vegas Confidential: Channel Nine v Seven in breakfast wars, how under-21 NRL players are partying in Sin City
Australia’s two biggest breakfast television rivals are going head-to-head on the ground in Las Vegas for the NRL season opener extravaganza. That and more in Las Vegas Confidential.
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Australia’s two biggest breakfast television rivals are going head-to-head on the ground in Las Vegas.
Channel 9 has sent television heavyweight Karl Stefanovic to Sin City to promote the NRL’s season-opener for the free-to-air broadcaster on the Today show.
But Channel 7 hasn’t sat on its hands, despite not being an NRL broadcaster.
The rival network has posted Sunrise sports presenter Katie Brown, a former NRL reporter, to Las Vegas.
Brown gained a new legion of fans at Canberra’s training session in Vegas when she had them doing the Viking clap on live television in Australia on Wednesday morning (AEDT).
Vegas Con understands the breakfast wars are set to heat up later this week when Nine confirms its new sports presenter to replace the departed Alex Cullen.
Cullen left the network after accepting $50,000 from Block bidder Adrian ‘Mr Lambo’ Portelli.
A handful of sporting and broadcast stars have been used since his departure – Olympians Ellie Cole and Cate Campbell along with Nine presenters Danika Mason, Roz Kelly and Zac Bailey.
Melbourne presenter Clint Stanaway and Walkley Award winner Neil Breen have also been mentioned. Vegas Con understands that an announcement could be made as early as this week.
NRL ABOUT TO SMASH $100M BARRIER
Rugby league is on the verge of crashing through the $100 million barrier when it comes to the game’s economic impact in Las Vegas.
Vegas Con can reveal that last year’s double header was worth more than $77 million to Sin City in terms of economic impact.
However, this year’s quadruple header is set to leave last year in the shade given the increased interest in the concept and the inclusion of two English teams as well as the women’s Test.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority boss Steve Hill confirmed the economic numbers and revealed Sin City officials were open to extending their deal with the NRL.
The NRL struck a five-year deal with Las Vegas tourism which has three years to run. However, the concept has been such a success that Las Vegas officials are open to starting talks over an extension.
HOW THE YOUNG’UNS PARTY IN VEGAS
PlayStation, Xbox, Facetime, roller-coasters and rummaging through their teammates’ belongings.
This is how Canberra’s under-21 players are spending their downtime in Las Vegas.
Young guns Ethan Strange, Savelio Tamale, Noah Martin and Chevy Stewart haven’t been able to make the most out of their time in Sin City given they are yet to celebrate their 21st birthdays.
Teammates Ethan Sanders and Owen Pattie reached the milestone last month but Strange, 20, Stewart, 19, Martin, 19, and Tamale, 20, are yet to get there.
The four underage players weren’t allowed to enter the licensed area of a pool for a recovery session and have had to steer clear of the casino floor at Resorts World.
Not that they are worried about it.
“I’ll be staying in the hotel going through the boys’ stuff,” Strange joked.
Strange and Stewart went on the rollercoaster together at New York New York Casino on a day off. The Raiders have an Xbox setup in their team room and Stewart made sure he was prepared before leaving Australia.
“I bought a PlayStation 5 for the trip,” he said.
“I’ll sit in my room, stretch and go to bed. I’m sure we’ll conjure something up. It’s not too bad.
“I’ll Facetime the boys when they are out doing their thing.”
Tamale has bigger things to worry about anyway. He will make his club debut on the wing in Vegas in what will be just his second NRL game.
Penrith winger Casey McLean has confronted the same problem as the Canberra quartet.
While his teammates have enjoyed Sin City, the 18-year-old – the youngest NRL player in Vegas who, along with a handful of teammates who are also under 21 – has had a more restrained start to the week.
“We do our own thing, especially on those early nights,” McLean said.
“We went for a wander. We couldn’t really do much. When they did their thing, we had dinner and went for a walk instead of sitting in our room.”
SPOTTED
Cronulla Sharks prop Addin Fonua-Blake being greeted with warm hugs from his former New Zealand Warriors teammates when he bumped into them in the corridors of Resorts World.
CARNEY AND FOX STARS HIT TOWN
Former England and Newcastle star Brian Carney did a tour of UFC headquarters on Wednesday morning (AEDT).
Carney, now best known as a commentator at Sky Sports, had only been in town a matter of hours when his old mate Matthew Johns reached out.
Johns was among a who’s who of Australian media will come together on Thursday morning (AEDT) as Fox League holds its Welcome to Vegas event at the Legacy Club on Fremont Street.
ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo will join Foxtel boss Patrick Delany, Fox Sports director Steve Crawley, CEO of streaming and advertising, Julian Ogrin, and an array of Fox League talent for the exclusive event.
No doubt Carney might manage to score himself an invite.
RAIDERS SEE FUNNY SIDE OF STOUSH
The Raiders can now see the funny side of the infamous elevator fist fight.
Canberra’s Hudson Young and Morgan Smithies were forced to issue apologies on Monday after becoming embroiled in a stink in a hotel lift on their first night in Las Vegas.
But the scandal lasted about as long as the fight, with the players joking on Tuesday.
Young and Smithies engaged in some friendly banter in the gym at the UFC Centre.
We captured them wrestling and laughing before pumping some iron.
Smithies is still sporting a black eye that he insists wasn’t caused by Young.
NEW BEAUT BOOT
He has made shoes for the wife of Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes, music icon Justin Timberlake and NFL legend Jason Kelce. Now it is the NRL’s turn.
Colin Szumski - aka Chummy - has designed and made custom shoes for some of the biggest celebrities in the world.
He is now collaborating with the NRL on a series of shoes that will be on display at the fan hub in Las Vegas.
Chummy has customized a pair of shoes for each of the teams as well as the famous Steeden ball.
“I am just trying to utilise the coolest parts of the jersey,” Chummy said.
“A lot of effort goes into the design process and going over drafts to make sure it is the best design we can do.
Chummy concedes he doesn’t know a lot about rugby league but he can’t wait to be at Allegiant Stadium this weekend.
“I am excited to be (at the games) and see what it is all about,” he said.
RESORTS WORLD COMES TO PARTY
The NRL has had its fair share of issues with Resorts World on this trip but the hotel has come to the party when it comes to advertising rugby league’s Las Vegas extravaganza.
The hotel has been running massive adds on the side of one of its three hotels to promote the game. The ads cover about 30 floors of the hotel and can be seen from a fair distance on the strip.
The NRL after-party has been getting a plug as well. Apparently T-Pain is playing. The experts tell us he goes good.
RIVALS CAN’T AVOID EACH OTHER IN VEGAS
Las Vegas is a big place but the NRL’s four clubs in town have had a hard time avoiding each other.
While they are all staying at Resorts World, they are also sharing similar training facilities.
The Raiders reported for training on Tuesday morning (local time) and had been bumped from the field they used on Monday.
That was because the Panthers turned up a few minutes later and trained just 100m apart.
When the Raiders turned up at the UFC centre for a gym session, the Warriors were just finishing up.
They will be rivals at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday but shared a lunch room.
Raiders winger Xavier Savage said it wasn’t awkward spending so much time with their round one rivals.
“I don’t think it’s like that,” he said.
“When it comes to game day everyone is ready and you’re not friends anymore.
“But there’s a lot of good relationships between the players. That goes with Penrith and Sharks boys we’ve seen.
“You have good chats and stuff off the field but it switches on game day.”
The Raiders had about 50 fans turn up at training, with the players and coach Ricky Stuart incredibly accommodating to the travelling troupe.
In contrast, the Panthers had zero fans or media at training because they didn’t advertise it as an open session.
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Originally published as Las Vegas Confidential: Channel Nine v Seven in breakfast wars, how under-21 NRL players are partying in Sin City
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