Key reason the NRL could make it in the US

America’s leading sports economist says now is the time for the NRL to strike a US broadcast deal – and revealed why the game could make an impact.

America’s leading sports economist says now is the time for the NRL to strike a US broadcast deal – and suggests recruiting President Donald Trump to help the game crack the world’s most sought after market.

Dan Rascher has consulted across all major professional sports in the US, including the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, NASCAR racing, PGA golf and tennis, plus English Premier League soccer and cricket’s IPL.

His message to the NRL is simple as the game prepares for the second edition of its Las Vegas venture: you have a product worth selling and streaming services coming into the market are at fever pitch in their search for content.

According to Rascher, key assets for rugby league are the physicality of the game – played minus helmets and pads – and the continuous nature of the sport.

“This is the time to move, it really is,” Rascher told The Daily Telegraph from his base at the University of San Francisco.

“From a broadcast perspective it’s happening now and it’s happening fast. We had 100 million American households with cable television. It has now lowered to 50 million in eight or nine years.

The crowd at last year’s Las Vegas NRL game.

“Those other 50 million households have basically jumped on to streaming services.

“The content companies are desperate. Netflix and Amazon are wanting to put on live sports. Disney is launching a new streaming package. ESPN is more focused on putting content on its streaming services.

“Even if you get small percentage of the US population as a fan base it’s still going to be real dollars.”

NRL matches in Vegas this weekend are being broadcast in the US on FOX channels.

Last year viewership was 61,000. While no long-term deal is in place, the FOX outlook is that the sport has “ample growth opportunities”.

Rascher said a further pitch to potential broadcasters should be the flow of the game, an area where some of America’s biggest sports have faced challenges.

Despite its massive popularity, Rascher claimed “one of the things fans don’t like about American football is that the game stops constantly”.

While strategically different to rugby league and based on short, sharp periods of explosive action, NFL has ball-in-play for just 11 minutes across three hours. Replays take up more air time in TV broadcasts.

Captains from left Warrington Wolves George Williams, Raiders Joseph Tapine, Warriors Mitchell Barnett, England Red Roses Jodie Cunningham, Australian Jillaroos, Kezie Apps, Sharks Cameron McInnes, Panthers Isaah Yeo, and Wigan Warriors Liam Farrell at the Las Vegas Week Media Launch at the NRL Fan Hub at Resorts World. Picture: Jonathan Ng

NRL creates 56 minutes of ball-in-play from an 80-minute game, well above rugby union Tests which deliver 34 minutes of action.

“In baseball they changed the rules a few years ago to shorten the game,” Rascher added. “It resulted in quite a bump in viewership and attendance which had been dropping over the previous 20 years.

“In the NBA they don’t want so many fouls and free throws because it’s down time.

“The attention span of young folks … they don’t want to wait. It’s about instant gratification. So yeah, that’s an advantage for rugby league. I really think so.”

Rascher said the fact Americans love contact sports, with NFL at the pinnacle, was a further plus for NRL where massive collisions sit neatly in the wheelhouse for attracting fans.

“It is one of the things people watch and are amazed by, that these guys are pounding each other without any pads and you’ve got some big guys out there,” he added.

“If they marketed the players as larger than life – the super hero – that would appeal to American fans especially those in their 20s and 30s.”

Could Donald Trump play a role in league’s rise in the US? Picture: AFP

But an essential element to success he believes is a social media presence that complements the in-stadium and broadcast product.

“Not only is the media fragmenting, so is the audience,” he said. “They’re watching highlights and commenting, and they’re engaging with warm-ups before games, players messing around.

“All that social media content can be monetised and it becomes a separate way of measuring viewership, where the old traditional way is now a bit flawed.

“The (NBA team) Golden State Warriors are doing amazing work in Asia. They have folks living in Tokyo and Beijing to run their social media…it’s a huge deal.”

As for recruiting Trump as a supporter to amplify the game’s awareness, Rascher pointed to history.

The now President failed in attempts to secure ownership of NFL teams in the 1980s. Continually frustrated, he became part of the breakaway USFL which ran from 1983 to 1985.

He also led a USFL lawsuit against the NFL trying to force a merger of the two competitions which never eventuated.

According to Rascher, Trump has lingering bitterness towards the NFL.

“He’s anti-NFL because they rejected him for so long … but he loves the tough guy mentality no question, more so than any other president would admit to,” Rascher said.

“So if someone was to come along – big guys, super hero caricatures – I wouldn’t be surprised if he got behind it or if he thought it was interesting enough to at least like and get media coverage for it.

“That’s not pie in the sky.”

Originally published as Key reason the NRL could make it in the US