Peter V’landys’ White House visit, meeting US President Joe Biden and NRL’s 10-year America plan
ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys has opened up on rubbing shoulders with US President Joe Biden, outlining more plans for the NRL’s American dream and taken a cheeky swipe at AFL.
ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys has revealed plans for the NRL to bury the AFL as Australia’s No.1 sport and reign in America for decades after his meeting with US President Joe Biden.
Speaking exclusively to this masthead from the White House, V’landys spoke of the “surreal” moment an “immigrant boofhead from Wollongong” broke bread with Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at a state dinner on Wednesday night.
V’landys’ trip to America, at the behest of Albanese, is a preamble to the NRL’s historic double header in Las Vegas next March when the Broncos, Roosters, Souths and Manly will play at Allegiant Stadium.
The NRL have a five-year strategy to play in Vegas, but after meeting Biden, V’landys believes rugby league can generate more than $200 million with a permanent foothold in the Land of Opportunity.
“It’s just surreal being here. I’m pinching myself,” V’landys said.
“I’m only human and I initially met the Queen for an hour-and-a-half last year, then I met the King of England and now I’ve met the American president.
“I want to express this - if I can do it, anyone can do it.
“I’m an immigrant kid from Wollongong and I’m here at the White House.
“I hope Australian kids take inspiration from this thinking, ‘If this boofhead can be at the White House, anyone can achieve it’.
“Anthony Albanese is a great man and is a great supporter of rugby league.
“It’s been a great trip and a very important trip. I have been some very big hitters and I’ve learned a lot about the American market.
“From government officials to major business people, the trip has been exceptionally worthwhile. To be successful, you have to set the foundations and I’m setting the foundations for the long-term growth of the sport.
“I have made some key contacts that will be important for rugby league’s future.
“I won’t name names because I don’t want to embarrass them but the NRL will be Australia’s No.1 sport.”
V’landys said rubbing shoulders with Biden came about by chance after an unsolicited invitation from Albanese over lunch in Sydney.
“How it came about, I was having lunch with ‘Albo’,” he said.
“We were talking about Vegas and he said there’s a state dinner at the White House coming up, do you want to come?
“I will get you some publicity on rugby league and Vegas.
“I jumped at it and here I am in America meeting the US president, it’s been an amazing trip.
“Joe Biden was very nice and friendly. We took a photo with Anthony Albanese. We had a reception on the lawns of the White House and Albo’s speech was exceptional.
“It made me proud to be an Australian.”
An NRL delegation will return to America next month to ramp-up promotions for the code’s Sin City sortie, with Broncos lock Pat Carrigan and Souths’ Cameron Murray to help spruik the code to the US public.
V’landys is keen to leverage America’s massive wagering and broadcast market and says the NRL spreading its tentacles to one of the world’s most powerful nations can leave rival winter code the AFL in the shade.
“People don’t realise the power of us connecting with America,” he said.
“I’m not talking benefits in the tens of millions, I’m talking hundreds of millions, but only if the strategy is properly implemented and I am making sure we dot every I and cross every T.
“We are doing as much due diligence as we can in American to make rugby league a great success in this country.
“There are 340 million people in America, there’s 26 million in Australia.
“Even if you get one per cent of the population here, it’s worth hundreds of millions to us.
“What I have discovered over here is that there are a lot of people in America who are expat Australians. Even if they subscribe to rugby league, it’s worth millions, so American can be a goldmine for the NRL and I’m determined to make it work.”
The NRL is committed to playing games in Vegas until 2028, but V’landys wants rugby league to establish a permanent base in America well into the 2030s.
“We have the AFL on the run,” he said.
“We want to be in America longer than five years.
“I am confident it will be longer than that, we have set ourselves five years and if the results aren’t there in five, we will reassess, but I know we have the best game.
“There is no game like rugby league. It’s got everything. It’s brutal. It’s entertaining. It’s tribal. AFL isn’t here. People say there’s a lot of sports in America but rugby league is as good as anything here.
“Our success here won’t happen overnight. It won’t happen in one year. But if our figures are correct and our commitment is long term, there could be more revenue coming to us from America than Australia, simply because of the scale of the population.
“We have a great ad that we will put out very soon and we will be putting it out on social media to promote the Vegas concept.
“We’re taking a few NRL players over in the next few weeks, including Pat Carrigan, and we’ll have celebrities involved, too.
“We are after two things: subscribers and doing a deal with some wagering operators.
“It’s up to us to market rugby league in America to sell it to the people and that’s what I intend to do.”
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