Canberra Raiders look at teaming up with Las Vegas Raiderettes
The Canberra Raiders and the NRL are looking to team up with the Las Vegas Raiderettes – and their 100,000 Instagram followers – when rugby league returns to Sin City in March.
NRL
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Bring. It. On.
The NRL are planning to add even more glitz and glamour to their US odyssey by partnering with the hugely popular Las Vegas Raiderettes.
On a mission to bring more eyes onto rugby league, the NRL are plotting a plan to incorporate one of American sport’s most spectacular cheerleading squads during the game’s return to Las Vegas in March next year.
With over 100,000 followers on Instagram, the Raiderettes is the official cheer squad of NFL team the Las Vegas Raiders.
The synergy between the Canberra Raiders, one of four NRL clubs bound for the season-launch in Sin City, has prompted the high-level discussion.
The NRL Raiders originally created their brand and logo largely due to the huge following and powerful image of the Las Vegas Raiders, formerly the Los Angeles and Oakland Raiders.
The Raiders will play the Warriors on March 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas with the match broadcast in prime time on the Fox Network free-to-air main channel which distributes to 125-million American homes.
The Sharks and Panthers will also feature in Las Vegas.
A partnership with the Raiderettes and the Canberra Raiders would also be a return to including cheerleaders into the club’s pre-game entertainment after deciding to stop using their cheer squad in 2017 and instead use local schools and community dance troupes.
Fox Sports Head of Television Steve Crawley is leading the push to provide fans and TV viewers with unprecedented coverage and entertainment – with the Raiderettes a major part of the season launch on March 1.
“I was in an email exchange with Peter V’landys (ARLC Chairman), Patrick Delaney (Foxtel Group CEO) and Andrew Abdo (NRL CEO) and I mentioned that this is a great opportunity for us to align with NFL clubs that share similar names with our clubs, from players to coaches to NFL cheer squads,’’ Crawley said.
“And Peter only speaks up in these email exchanges when he needs to or wants to.
“On this one, he simply said, ‘Now you’re talking’.
“That made me smile and made me think, let’s go and have a look at getting the Las Vegas Raiderettes involved.
“And to do it with a club like the Raiders is a much more powerful way to do it.
“From a showpiece point of view and entertainment for fans, I think it’s a great idea.’’
Raiders CEO Don Furner said the club were hopeful that the Raiderettes would join the NRL’s massive season-launch party.
“We’d love them to be involved,’’ Furner said.
“As everybody knows, we took our name from the Raiders NFL team 41 years ago.
“Like the Raiders, we too had Raiderettes.
“NFL is a massive sport in the US, but the Raiderettes are a massive brand in their own right.
“We’d love nothing more than for them to perform and entertain the fans on game day.’’
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