Rugby League Las Vegas
Annual event From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rugby League Las Vegas is an annual event held at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas showcasing the sport of rugby league. The inaugural event was established in 2023 by Australia's National Rugby League (NRL) to host two matches of the 2024 NRL season opening round, and was done so with the aim of expanding the audience of the competition and develop rugby league in the United States.
| Rugby League Las Vegas | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The Allegiant Stadium hosts the event | |
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Rugby league |
| Frequency | Annually |
| Venue | Allegiant Stadium |
| Location(s) | Paradise, Nevada |
| Country | United States |
| Years active | 1 |
| Inaugurated | March 2, 2024 |
| Previous event | March 2, 2024 |
| Next event | March 1, 2025 |
| Participants | |
| Attendance |
|
| Capacity | 65,000 |
| Organized by | National Rugby League |
The event, initially contracted until 2028,[1][2] was expanded to include clubs from the United Kingdom's Super League in 2025. The initial joining of Super League clubs was arranged on a club level with the NRL[3] before a formal agreement was arranged for Super League's regular inclusion for future events.[4]
History
Summarize
Perspective
2024 event
In August 2023, the National Rugby League (NRL) announced that two games in the opening round of the 2024 NRL season would be held in Las Vegas. The Brisbane Broncos, Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, South Sydney Rabbitohs, and Sydney Roosters were selected to play in the event,[5][6] with the remainder of round one being confirmed at a later date.[7] The two matches took place on March 2, 2024, and marked the first NRL regular season games held outside Australia and New Zealand.[8] The 2024 event saw Manly Warringah beat South Sydney[9] and Sydney beat Brisbane.[10] The NRL initially declared that over 40,000 fans attended but the Las Vegas Stadium Authority revealed a figure of 31,927 (exclusive of private boxes). Both games were aired on Fox Sports in the United States.[9] While stadium attendance was deemed a success, TV viewing fixtures were low in the United States at only 61,000, though it was 16,000 higher than the last NRL programme to be aired in the states. Viewing figures in Australia surpassed 1.6 million across both games.[11] The day prior to the event, a Colonial Cup match between the national men's teams of the United States and Canada was held.[12] The game ended 16–16.[13]
2025 event
In July 2024, the NRL announced that the 2025 event would feature the Canberra Raiders, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Auckland Warriors, and Penrith Panthers.[14][15][16] In addition, the 2025 event will also feature an matchweek three game of the United Kingdom's Super League with Wigan Warriors facing local rivals Warrington Wolves. Like the NRL in 2024, this game marks the first regular season Super League game to be held in the United States.[17][18] Further, the event would also showcase an ashes test match between the Australia and England women's national sides,[19] which will be the first of three women's test matches of the 2025 England Lions and Lionesses tour of Australia.[20] Super League's involvement in the event came after a speculative email was sent to the organizers by Wigan's CEO Kris Radlinski after he watched the 2024 event on TV.[21][22] Both United States men's and women's national teams will face Greece the day before the 2025 event.[23] In November 2024, Matty Ashton and Kruise Leeming ran promotions for the event at the Las Vegas Raiders vs Denver Broncos NFL game and during the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, with both occurring on the same weekend.[24]
In the weeks ahead of the 2025 event, the Super League fixture was described as "the biggest game in British rugby league history" due to the potential investments, brand recognition, and fan markets it could make available to the British game across the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.[25][26] Over 45,000 were in attendance for the 2025 event, up from the previous year, whom saw Wigan defeat Warrington, Canberra defeat Auckland, Penrith defeat Cronulla-Sutherland, and a record defeat of the England Lionesses by Australia Jillaroos.[27] Analysis following the 2025 event showed that Rugby League Las Vegas is being a short term success with the event being profitable and providing a good showcase of the sport, however it was unclear if the event was having any impact on the long term goal of establishing rugby league in the United States as the vast majority of attendees were travelling Australians, New Zealanders, and Britons.[28] The four-game event proved to be too ambitious, especially with the Allegiant Stadium not allowing re-admittion. Crowed numbers had reduced by game four nor had everyone entered the stadium for game one, with Peter V'landys saying the nine-hour event was too long for most attending.[29] The involvement of Super League was deemed as success and a boost to the event by the NRL.[30]
US TV ratings for 2025 were up over 600% on 2024. 371,000 Americans watched the Canberra vs Auckland game in 2025, compared to 61,000 for the top game in the 2024 schedule.[31] In the UK, the Wigan vs Warrington game peaked at 340,000 making it the most watched Super League game outside of the COVID-19 season. It was also the most watched Super League game in Australia.[32]
2026 event
On the eve of the 2025 event, it was reported that RL Commercial had secured Super League's place for the 2026 event, marking Super League's formal inclusion in Rugby League Las Vegas after the 2025 game was organised by the participating clubs and not the league itself. It was also reported the 2026 World Club Challenge could feature as one of the games, with the 2025 match being cancelled due to both team's participation in Las Vegas.[33] The 2026 event will likely host three matches.[34]
Results
Summarize
Perspective
Main event
The following is a list of results of teams who have played at the main event, held the Allegiant Stadium in Paradise.
| Game | Competition | Date | Time | Team 1 | Score | Team 2 | Attendance | Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Game 1 | 2024 NRL season | 2 March 2024 | 19:30 PST |  Manly Warringah Sea Eagles |
36–24 |  South Sydney Rabbitohs |
40,746[a] | [37] |
| Game 2 | 2024 NRL season | 21:30 PST |  Sydney Roosters |
20–10 |  Brisbane Broncos |
[37] | |||
| 2025 | Game 1 | 2025 Super League season | 1 March 2025 | 13:30 PST |  Wigan Warriors |
48–24 |  Warrington Wolves |
45,209[27] | [27] [38][39] |
| Game 2 | 2025 NRL season | 16:00 PST |  Canberra Raiders |
30–8 |  New Zealand Warriors |
[27] | |||
| Game 3 | 2025 Women's Ashes | 18:15 PST |  Australia Jillaroos |
90–4 |  England Lionesses |
[27] [40][41] | |||
| Game 4 | 2025 NRL season | 20:30 PST |  Penrith Panthers |
28–22 |  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
[27] | |||
Development matches
A number of development games are held during the weekend to aid the growth of the United States national rugby league teams.
| Game | Competition | Date | Time | Team 1 | Score | Team 2 | Venue | Attendance | Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Game 1 | Men's International Friendly | 1 March 2024 | 19:00 PT |  United States |
16–16 |  Canada |
Ed W. Clark High School, Las Vegas | Unknown | [13] |
| 2025 | Game 1 | Men's International Friendly | 26 February 2025 | 18:00 PT | United States |
C–C[b] |  Greece |
Silver Bowl Park, Las Vegas | N/A | N/A |
| Game 2 | Women's International Friendly | 28 February 2025 | 13:30[c] PT | United States |
46–0 | Greece |
TBA | [43] | ||
| Game 3 | Men's International Friendly | 15:30[d] PT | United States |
10–46 | Greece |
TBA | ||||
Broadcasting
| Region | Network |
|---|---|
| Australia |
Kayo Sports Fox League Nine Network |
 New Zealand |
Sky Sport (NRL games only) |
| United States |
Fox Sports 1 |
| Canada |
Sportsnet |
 United Kingdom |
Sky Sports Main Event |
 France |
Bis Télévision |
| Pacific Islands | Sky Pacific (2024 only) |
| Asia | Premier Sports Asia (2024 only) |
Statistics
Attendances
| Year | Attendance |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 40,746 |
| 2025 |  45,209 |
Games by competition
| Competition | Games | Years |
|---|---|---|
| National Rugby League |
4 | 2024 (2), 2025 (2) |
| Super League |
1 | 2025 |
| Women's Ashes | 1 | 2025 |
Team appearances
| Team | Apps. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Brisbane Broncos |
1 | 2024 |
| Manly Warringah Sea Eagles |
2024 | |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs |
2024 | |
| Sydney Roosters |
2024 | |
| Australia Jillaroos |
2025 | |
| Canberra Raiders |
2025 | |
| Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
2025 | |
| England Lionesses |
2025 | |
| New Zealand Warriors |
2025 | |
| Penrith Panthers |
2025 | |
| Warrington Wolves |
2025 | |
| Wigan Warriors |
2025 |
Notes
- Game cancelled due to thieves stealing the copper from the floodlights[42]
References
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