NRL set to delay United States season kick-off proposal to 2024

As the 2023 NRL pre-season gets underway, the Andrew Abdo has made a call on a bold proposal for a season launch in the United States.

David Riccio

@DaveRic1

less than 2 min read

November 4, 2022 - 4:29PM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

The NRL have delayed a proposal to for a season opener to be played in the United States to 2024. Picture: Jonathan Ng

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The NRL have made a call on launching the season in the US by pushing back the bold proposal until 2024.

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said the decision has been made by management to delay taking the NRL to America in March next year in order to market and promote the event over the next 12-months in the US.

Abdo said the NRL were determined to make the USA-based game happen, adding that they had a five-year plan from 2024 to take games to the US.

The ability to properly promote the event ahead of next March and the already hectic upcoming pre-season schedule of matches was a factor in delaying the NRL’s venture to the US.

The NRL have delayed a proposal to for a season opener to be played in the United States to 2024. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“We didn’t want to do one exhibition game, we wanted to build our content year on year over five years,’’ Abdo said.

“We’ve got a lot of clubs interested, we’ve got stadiums interested, we’ve got partners interested, but we want to do it properly.’’

The Melbourne Storm, Sydney Roosters and Manly Sea Eagles were all interested in being part of the unique US experience.

The Sea Eagles, Storm and Sydney Roosters remain interested in being involved in the United States opener. Picture: Getty Images.

All three clubs will be told by the NRL on Friday that they remain in the NRL’s plans for 2024, if they remain interested.

The NRL are eyeing the west coast of the US from San Francisco to San Diego as a launch pad.

“We’ve got such a great competition and such great clubs, we think that it will have appeal for the American audience, so we want to include a host of initiatives that sit around the match as well,’’ Abdo said.