‘No one is speaking about the AFL’: Code wars explode over Las Vegas truth

The footy code wars have kicked off again in a big way, with NRL commentators taking a flamethrower to the AFL on the eve of the season.

It’s only February, but the first edition of 2025 footy code wars have kicked off, with rugby league commentators declaring “no one is speaking about the AFL” ahead of the NRL season opener in Las Vegas this weekend.

In the second year of a five-year deal with Las Vegas, the Canberra Raiders will play the New Zealand Warriors and the Panthers will take on Cronulla on Sunday (AEDT).

There were plenty of sceptics about the Vegas experiment but ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys says the NRL could break even financially on the weekend this year, with Nathan Cleary and Penrith the star attraction.

Watch the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership season opening double-header LIVE from Las Vegas on Kayo, SUN 2 MAR 10AM | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.

V’landys said last year’s inaugural Vegas games helped get eyeballs on the NRL and provided a launching pad to recordbreaking TV viewership in 2024. And if the NRL can tap into a portion of the American sports gambling market, Nevada will become nirvana for V’landys.

He’s even invited US President Donald Trump to attend the games on Sunday, shooting a promo for US show Fox & Friends that is as gutsy as it is cringeworthy.

The growing success of the Vegas games has predictably prompted NRL commentators to declare war on the AFL, which begins with its season next weekend with Opening Round, featuring four games held in Sydney and Queensland.

This will be the second year the AFL has held the Opening Round, with four games held in the northern states in a bid to grow the game outside of Victoria.

But there was a distinct lack of fanfare at last year’s matches, with many supporters expecting more fan activations and extra buzz.

While Opening Round is a noble concept, the truth is that it’s still very much a soft launch for Round 1, which kicks off with Richmond vs Carlton at the MCG on March 13.

The NRL kicks off in Las Vegas this weekend.

Veteran rugby league reporter Phil Rothfield said on Triple M: “The NRL is now tipping a crowd of 50,000 (in Las Vegas). I’ll say this, have you guys heard anything about the opening round of the AFL?

“It’s all rugby league. It’s all Las Vegas. This is priceless. You know what, with 50,000 people in that stadium won’t make a big profit but they’re going to break even.

“All those people who were bagging and saying it was a waste of money, they’re that far off the track it’s not funny.”

Former NRL forward Aaron Woods, who has been promoting the game in the United States in recent weeks, said the NRL was making inroads in America after many locals confused rugby league for the 15-man code rugby union in the NRL’s first foray to Vegas last season.

“It is making traction,” Woods said.

“When I came here last year to promote it, it was ‘rugby’.

“Everyone was saying ‘rugby this, rugby that’. Now it’s actually rugby league after they watched the game last year.

“Peter V’landys has got balls, man. The initiative he’s come out with, no one is speaking about the AFL.

“Who cares? We’re talking about NRL and that’s what we want to talk about. He’s done his job and this is what he’s out there to do.”

Both codes are starting earlier than ever, edging into cricket season as the AFL and NRL dominate the news cycle for the entire year thanks to booming interest in player trades and transfers.

Rothfield added: “Woodsy, there’s a cricket Champions Trophy on at the moment, do you know that?”

Woods replied: “I haven’t heard that. When does the union start?”

Rothfield: “Well it’s started.”

A crowd of 50,000 is expected for the NRL games at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

It must be said there is still a bit of confusion from Americans about the difference between rugby league and union.

NFL legend Rob Gronkowski, who promoted the Vegas games through his work as a commentator on Fox Sports’ US network, still didn’t quite understand the difference between league and union when speaking to news.com.au.

The four-time Super Bowl champion cited his old New England Patriots teammate Nate Ebner, who played Rugby Sevens and rugby union throughout his football career.

But that’s union, not league, Gronk.

“He (Ebner) played in the Olympics. We learned a lot about rugby from Nate Ebner,” Gronkowski said.

“He was a great NFL player well. It was cool to see a guy like Nate do that. He was a rugby player and played in the NFL.

“I know a little bit about rugby. I was like, ‘heck yeah’, I want to promote rugby. I love the contact. I love what the sport represents.”

Nathan Cleary and the Panthers are the main attraction in Vegas. Picture: Thomas Lisson

The AFL has experimented playing games overseas, but three years of playing one game per season in Shanghai fell flat — the biggest crowd was 10,689 at Jiangwan Stadium.

In October, the AFL and GAA said they were exploring the return of the International Rules Series last held in 2017.

A case could be made that the AFL is copying all of the NRL’s good ideas.

After the success of the Indigenous All Stars game, AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said the league is also open to the return of State of Origin, which was last held in 1999.

All 18 captains have expressed support towards representative football being played.

A one-off Victoria vs All Stars game was played in 2020 to raise funds for bushfire relief.

Its name may have been mocked but the Gather Round has been a resounding success for the AFL and the South Australian government.

The third edition of Gather Round will be held this season and it is getting bigger and better each year.

All 18 skippers at the AFL Captains Day. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Peter V’landys and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo have turned the NRL into a financial force after the Covid pandemic, building their net asset base with the goal of turning the league into a $1 billion behemoth.

The NRL generated $744.9 million in revenue 2024 with an operating surplus of $62.3 million.

Last year the had AFL operating surplus of $45.4 million, but didn’t disclose its overall revenue.

The federal government has contributed $600 million to fund the new team in Papua New Guinea, while V’landys wants $320 million from the Western Australian government so the Bears can become the NRL’s 18th team.

WA Premier Roger Cook said last week negotiations were ongoing but his state was the only one that “can put the N in NRL”.

However it’s not all bad news for the AFL, the league’s $4.5 billion broadcast deal, that runs through to 2031, blew the NRL’s $1.7 billion deal out of the water.

The NRL wants their next TV broadcast deal to be a monster, likely involving Channel 9, new Foxtel owners DAZN and a streaming service.

The Warriors training in Las Vegas. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images/AFP.

V’landys told Code Sports last week the NRL is considering selling the TV rights to State of Origin to a streamer like Amazon or Netflix.

Despite the blustering of NRL pundits, the AFL will always be ahead in one area — getting bums on seats.

The average crowd for AFL games in 2024 was 38,344. In the NRL, the average crowd last year was 20,605.

According to the AFR, NRL season had a total of 153.7 million viewers, compared to the AFL’s 140.3 million – figures achieved by combining free-to-air and streaming audiences for every game.

For the last nine years, the AFL Grand Final has outrated the NRL Grand Final.

NRL 2025 Las Vegas games, Sunday March 2

Wigan Warriors v Warrington Wolves (8:30am AEDT)

Canberra Raiders v New Zealand Warriors (11:00am AEDT)

Australian Jillaroos vs England Women (1:15pm AEDT)

Penrith Panthers vs Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (3:30pm AEDT).

The only place to watch all four games of Rugby League in Las Vegas live is Fox League, available on Kayo.

Originally published as ‘No one is speaking about the AFL’: Code wars explode over Las Vegas truth