NRL Vegas "2.0" a Success, But A Big Problem Remains
The event was a smash, the marketing to Americans continues to fall flat.
This author remembers the first National Rugby League Vegas like it was yesterday. If you want an in-depth review of the first time the Australian sport hit our shores, click here (subscription required). However, the long and short of it is that I loved cheering on my team in the Sydney Roosters and there were a lot of good things to build on for the following year. Well, the 2025 edition has come and gone and while there were many things to love, there is a question of whether the rather wooden marketing is helping or hindering the endeavor.
Before I continue, I’ll offer some disclosures. So the NRL offered a “Creator Comp” that allowed American creators to promote this year’s event, which I had won. So while I wasn’t paid by the NRL, I did get to attend via a complimentary ticket, a (nearly) all-access pass (they changed their mind on Field Access the day of), and a prize pack including a camera from Nikon Australia. If you want to see my entry that won the competition, click here:
First, the good:
The NRL had to come “bigger” than the year before, and so they went for volume. Instead of two rugby league matches being contested at the main event at Allegiant Stadium, four contests were scheduled. In addition to the two NRL (e.g. Australian League) matches, a SuperLeague (British) match and a match featuring the Australian Women’s National Team (codenamed “The Jillaroos”) were scheduled. Four games on the same day is a lot, even for the most hardened fans. That said, I enjoyed the variety in seeing both how two English teams play the game and if the presentation of the women’s game would be different compared to the men’s.
There were also great satellite events happening all week. There was a Fan Hub situated at ResortsWorld casino were supporters could get autographs. There was a “Fan Fest” one evening where about 10,000 people took over Downtown Las Vegas. There was even a daytime side tournament for 9s Rugby (sort of a more casual and pared down, but similarly intense, rugby variant). The USA Mens and Womens Rugby League Teams (codename “The Hawks”) were a part of that showcase.
But this leads me to the not-so-good. It is a bit of a headscratcher when trying to determine whether or not the NRL WANTS to market to the American audience. Yes, I know the games are on American soil, but the people in the stands were almost solely from Australia, New Zealand, The United Kingdom, and greater Polynesia. And yes, there was a week where rugby legend Aaron Woods went to WWE and NASCAR to promote Rugby to Americans, but the actual American Rugby League team was sent to a local soccer park for matches that were ten miles and a day away from the main event.
I’m aware the US Rugby Team isn’t on the level of NRL teams, but representation matters, yo!
But the huge mistake that NRL made in marketing the game to fans in the United States (if that’s what they want to do) is that they always compare the game of rugby to football. On the surface, it makes sense. It’s hard-hitting, there’s passing, it’s played on a ground that looks like a football field. But in explaining the game of Rugby in content targeted to Americans, it just comes off as condescending. Check out the title of this video:
Terms I understand…? Okay, wow. Well, that was from last year… Maybe this year is different:
Oh, they got former football player Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski to do the video? Greeaaaat.
Here’s the thing about football in this country. We love it, but currently not “in love” with it. Players, coaches, and fans of color are lamenting the lack of opportunities the National Football League has available for BIPOC persons, while conservative Americans have taken the NFL to task for activities that seem politically charged. Football purists are upset that college players are now eligible to make a living wage playing the sport. Spring football leagues are struggling financially and with fan support. The women’s game has had—to put it nicely—a checkered past. And that’s not accounting for those who are sports fans, or “live event” fans who aren’t fans of football as a whole. It’s a giant missed opportunity to pigeonhole yourself by latching onto a sport because the ball shape is similar.
Imagine there’s a new restaurant in your town and it makes a cuisine from a country you’ve never heard of. You head to the front door and it looks like a whole new world. You walk in, are seated and you ask for a menu. Once it arrives, you read things like: “This is our version of a hotdog. This is our version of a hamburger. This is our version of chili.” The food could be still good, but it has lost the aura of being authentic.
Sometimes, you have to sell the spectacle FIRST, and hope that fans discover the nuances themselves. Do you think Formula 1’s recent popularity in the United States came from “Hey y’all, it’s like NASCAR but BETTER?!” Pickleball is actually the fastest-growing sport in the US currently and it’s whole marketing standpoint is that it’s NOT tennis. Do you know what pickleball is not doing? Getting Russell Crowe to babytalk the rules of the game:
”Rugby League is football…but not as you know it..” Jeez.
I’d suggest the National Rugby League treat each of its teams as individual personalities are market the game that way. Sure the easy answer would be reality shows (like Netflix’s “Drive to Survive”) but there’s other ways to promote the game here if they truly want an American audience (because frankly, having a festival just for Oceania rugby fans living abroad isn’t necessarily a bad thing). The USA Rugby team should be featured more. Because if the Olympics has taught us anything, the quickest way to learn a sport is seeing someone you care about in the contest. NRL could lean into having simulcasts of American commentators or personalities who could subtly educate us while calling the action. This sounds like extra effort, but I guarantee that’s a more effective solution than having Maximus Decimus Meridius from Gladiator lecturing me about the rules.
In short, feature USA players and teams, have American personalities either call the action on alternative streams or elect a “corps” of local talent/personalities, and stop the ham-fisted attempt in linking it to the National Football League. If you just want Americans to know just enough about the sport so they can just bet on the games and go on their mighty way, just pay for promoted spots on sports betting shows. Done and done.
That said, if you’re reading this and are contemplating going to NRL Vegas next year, you should. It was a lot of fun, just don’t worry about the PA system telling you what a “try” is every twenty-five minutes. Give it a chance like I did during the pandemic, you may like it. And if you’re struggling on which team to support, may I suggest the Roosters?