Personalised jerseys, tailgate madness: 13 game-day concepts NRL should consider stealing from NFL
Fresh from an eight-day, four-state American football odyssey, DEAN RITCHIE pitches 13 ideas the NRL should borrow from the NFL to enhance the rugby league product.
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Four NFL games in eight days through four US states – this was an American football odyssey which clearly showed why rugby league faces a razzamatazz dilemma.
It’s time for rugby league clubs to start thinking big. Let’s grow, experiment and explore – it’s not a crime to pinch an idea from America. Guess what? It might just work.
Rugby league shouldn’t be content with what we have. We shouldn’t accept being small-time. Let’s look and mimic the NFL’s razzle-dazzle. And please don’t come back at me by saying: ‘We don’t need that Seppo bullshit’. It’s narrow minded and rugby league is better than that.
My mates and I over the past fortnight sat watching the Ravens defeat Seattle Seahawks at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium and Los Angeles Chargers beat New York Jets at the impressive MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
We were then in Chicago to see the Bears overcome Carolina Panthers at Soldier Field before finally watching the Vikings topple New Orleans Saints at the 73,000-seat indoor US Bank Stadium in Minnesota.
One word: Wow.
Let’s rip off some game-day innovations from the mega NFL. Let’s view ourselves as being big time, not stuck in suburban boundaries. Tradition is important but we must continue moving forward. Let’s spice up our game and make it even greater.
The NFL is show time and with the great Las Vegas journey now just weeks away, rugby league clubs need to lift its glitz and glamour. Here are 13 NFL game-day concepts NRL clubs should consider.
1 Tailgate madness
The tailgate party in Chicago at the adjacent car park was insane. Full BBQs, large television screens, tables, chairs, full meals, eskys of beers – it was amazing.
Why can’t NRL clubs find room near their grounds for 50 or so cars to provide a party and carnival-like pre-game tailgate atmosphere? It would certainly add to the game day experience. You’d be surprised how many fans would want to make it a pre-match ritual.
2 Numbers and merchandise
Every NFL player has his own number for the season with his name splashed across the back. It is a marketing gold mine. Tom Brady wore jumper 12 – TB12 was a commercial cash cow – Aaron Rodgers wore 12 with the Packers and is now 8 with the Jets. Joe Montana was always in 16.
Rugby league traditionalists will baulk, saying the 1-17 numbering system, in positions, has been in place for years but to hell with protocol. The NRL numbering is outdated anyway.
Imagine the money spinner for a club like Manly selling a Tom Trbojevic jumper with his name and number 23 across the back? What about Nathan Cleary in jumper 10? Reece Walsh in 50? Latrell Mitchell in 1? How many kids would buy the jumpers? We are talking rivers of gold.
The player would keep that jumper number for the season, maybe their career. NRL fans may want the jumper of a player – not the club. NRL legends, like the NFL, could have their number permanently retired.
3 Away themed bars
Specified bars in home ground cities offer a home-away-from-home for visiting supporters. There are around 10 bars in LA which offer a game day experience for all travelling fans. Opposition fans who fly in know they can congregate at certain pubs in Miami, Dallas or Kansas and feel safe among their own.
Why can’t some pubs in Townsville, Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne or Newcastle offer away team fans a place to drink pre and post-game? They could deck the joint out in the away team colours.
How good would it be for Roosters supporters travelling to Newcastle knowing they have lunch or dinner at a pub set aside for their fan base?
Green Bay emails fans discussing a ‘Packers Everywhere’ promotion when their team is playing away from Lambeau Field.
It reads: “Is your bar or restaurant a destination for Packers fans on game day? ‘Packers Everywhere’ bars open the doors to Packers fans every game day and serve as a ‘local Lambeau’ for Packers fans across the country and world.”
4 Food options
You can buy anything and everything inside NFL games – and the experience is pain free. Some rugby league grounds are so antiquated it takes 20 minutes to queue up for a pie and beer. That’s one-quarter of the game gone.
NFL franchises have employees wandering the arena with hot food and cold drinks. They actually balance eskys of beers on their heads asking who wants a refreshment. Everywhere you look, someone is trying to sell you food – and you don’t need to leave your seat. And all have EFTPOS readers.
MetLife had the Bubba Burger, Pizza, Franks, Cheesesteaks, Fat Roosters, Grab and Go, Global Pies, chicken wings, Liberty Sausage, Nuts, Nuts and more Nuts, Nachos, Tacos, ice cream and a stadium Gyro.
I am fully aware NRL grounds cannot compete with the billion-dollar NFL stadiums but surely rugby league clubs can make eating and drinking at the footy easier.
5 The anthem
The Star-Spangled Banner is sung with such raw emotion before every game. It is exhilarating. Fans are told to stand, take off their hats and place their right hand over their heart. Players run out holding the American flag. The patriotism is palpable.
I have never supported singing the anthem unless Australia is playing a Test match but should we stand proudly for the anthem before each game? And should we unravel a giant Australian flag on-field before games, as they do in the US?
The question is: Would our players sing it?
6 Player entrance
A franchise’s special teams will generally run onto the field first as a group with glamour players from either the offence or defensive unit then announced to the crowd individually.
Rugby league could consider having eight or nine players run out onto the field as a group but hold back four or five star players, who could be individually announced.
Imagine the roar when Trbojevic, Cleary, Walsh, Mitchell or Cam Munster were introduced to the crowd as they ran out?
7 Coaches on the sideline
All NFL head coaches stand on the sideline during games, adding theatre, colour, drama and hysterics. They are visual and openly and often aggressively challenge decisions.
Too often NRL coaches are locked away behind coaching box glass panels. Why can’t they be out there on the sideline showing the world how and what they feel?
The NFL is all about entertainment – and the coaches know it.
8 Four quarters footy
The NFL is stop-start for lucrative television commercial breaks. A 60 minute game can run three-and-a-half hours. A 30-second TV ad during the Super Bowl is worth $10.8m Australian dollars.
There is a clock at some NFL grounds indicating how long the break will last. In that time, the home franchise has on-field promotions to keep the crowd engaged.
Should rugby league consider shifting to four quarters? Yes, it would mean more breaks and rugby league is known for its non-stop action.
But more stoppages means more advertising and that should ensure a larger broadcast deal. More stoppages would though alter how the game is played.
9 Military involvement
Our four games were part of the NFL’s Salute to Service round, which claims to “represent the NFL’s unwavering dedication to honouring, empowering and connecting with our nation’s service members, veterans and their families.”
A four jet military flyover was spine-tingling before the Ravens game.
Each time a member of the US armed forces was introduced to the crowd, they received a standing ovation. I’m not saying this should be every week – and we have the Anzac round – but would it hurt for the relationship between rugby league and Australia’s military to be strengthened? No.
10 One team, one town
There are only two US cities with two teams – LA and New York. The rest are one side towns. Everyone, and I mean everyone, wears their team jumper to a game. I got abused for not wearing a Bears jumper to the Chicago game.
Having nine suburban teams in Sydney is madness when you consider how they cannibalise each other on and off the field although rugby league cannot expel teams, it’s just too painful.
But having one rampant, vocal and passionate support base is difficult to beat when you’re the only show in town.
11 That’s entertainment
Sometimes, the actual NFL games run second to the game day extravaganza. Giant screen promotions, cheerleaders, giveaways with grounder announcers demanding noise – and getting it – when it’s a third down.
In New York, the entire crowd of 75,407 was given a LED wrist monitor which was centrally controlled, meaning the stadium lit-up green and white – the Jets’ colours – at nominated moments.
Each ground is also lit up in home team colours. Remember, five of rugby league games are played at night.
The NFL isn’t a game – it’s an event, a spectacle. A mate said the NFL is akin to State of Origin every week.
The amount of female fans at the NFL was also staggering. There are rock bands, DJs and marching bands playing outside the stadiums before each match.
Rugby league needs to make every game a spectacle. Drive the fans to enjoyment, ask them to yell and scream. Sometimes I think NRL fans are too reserved – a little too cool-for-school.
12 Super Bowl
Each year, cities bid to host the Super Bowl. This coming Super Bowl will be played at Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, just a fortnight before the NRL double header at the same venue.
More than 100 million viewers watch the Super Bowl, the host city pulling in around $770m Australian dollars through tourism.
Should the NRL sell off our grand final? Brisbane hosted the big game during Covid. Should we take the grand final to Melbourne, Auckland, Adelaide, Townville or Perth? Highest bidder wins; money talks.
Sydney doesn’t have a God-given right to host the grand final. The big money offers would more than cancel out a smaller crowd than what the decider could have attracted at Accor Stadium.
13 The rivalry
As we left Soldier Field, for no logical reason, Chicago fans started chanting: ‘Green Bay sucks’. The two franchises hate each other, as do the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh and Baltimore, along with Philadelphia and Dallas.
Is our rivalry in rugby league really that intense? Do Parramatta and Penrith actually hate each other? Do Saints and Sharks fans dislike each other? Souths and the Roosters? Brisbane and North Queensland?
No doubt the NRL derbies bring hostility and passion but I would stop short of saying the two teams, and their fan bases, actually hate one another like they do in the NFL.
Rugby league, please watch and learn. Our game day experience must become a weekly extravaganza. Let’s heighten the hype – NFL style.
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