LAS VEGAS — How do you grow a niche sport in parts of the world that are largely unfamiliar with it?
Follow the formula that the National Rugby League has been crafting as it’s brought the sport here for a weeklong showcase in each of the past three years.
It’s difficult to argue the blueprint the NRL has mapped out in Sin City, on Saturday closing out its third year of opening the league season with a doubleheader at Allegiant Stadium after blending in a week’s worth of fan-friendly activities.
Saturday night’s games between the Newcastle Knights and North Queensland Cowboys and then the Canterbury Bulldogs and St. George Illawarra Dragons were the climax to an eventful and productive week in Vegas.
For the third consecutive year, the NRL conducted a “Fan Fest’’ in old downtown Las Vegas’ Fremont Street, where officials estimated a crowd of some 16,000.
The setup was grand, with a red carpet weaving through the crowd and the teams separately marching to music onto a stage to be introduced.
The scene is always memorable, with the chants from the teams’ supporters and the wide-eyed looks on the players’ and coaches’ faces.
One of the things I always enjoy most when covering Super Bowls is the way you can see the magnitude of the event affect the players and coaches.
In each of the past three years that I’ve covered this event, I get the same feeling for the rugby league players and coaches, who are blown away by the entire experience. You can see in their eyes and expressions and hear in their voices the overwhelming sense of privilege they’re feeling for being a part of it.
The NRL does a bang-up job showcasing its players, conducting autograph sessions throughout the week to allow the fans to get up close.
On Wednesday afternoon, there was an event inside a packed nightclub featuring the captains from each of the teams.
It all, of course, led up to the main event — the games Saturday at Allegiant Stadium, where the attendance has risen each year, with this year’s crowd pushing over 40,000.
For those fans uninitiated with rugby league, they’re mesmerized by the bone-crunching collisions in the game between players who, unlike the NFL, wear no padding or helmets.
Sitting in the stands, you can hear and almost feel the collisions, and many of the hits are so violent, most would result in personal foul penalties in the NFL. In the NRL, they simply play on.
“This is about putting our product, our players and our fans on a global stage,’’ Andrew Abdo, the CEO of the NRL, said. “We have the best athletes in the world.’’
Watching the 13 players per side on the field, with continuous action for 80 minutes, that assertion is difficult to argue.
“It’s very special to showcase our game here in Las Vegas,’’ Bulldogs captain Stephen Crichton said.
That showcase appears destined to expand, as soon as next year with the NRL eyeing more global expansion beyond Vegas, with which it’s in the middle of a five-year commitment.
Peter V’landys, the chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, said the NRL has a three-year plan to bring these doubleheaders into at least four cities, with Miami and London being the most likely next destinations.
These expansions would be in addition to Las Vegas. Even though the contract expires after the 2028 event, the plans are to make Vegas a yearly event — and rightfully so considering the growing success here.
“Vegas is our anchor event — we are always going to be in Vegas — and this just proves it,’’ V’landys said as he looked around at the thousands of fans packing the “Fan Fest’’ on Thursday night. “I look at the great time all the fans are having [and] anything we do will be on top of Vegas. We would replicate everything [in other cities]. We want to make it a bucket-list [item] for fans to go to. There’s 20,000 Aussies here and they’ve taken over Vegas. Everywhere you go you see NRL jerseys.
“I’m confident we could get the same response, especially in London, if we go there. And even in Hong Kong and Japan and the Middle East. I think we can replicate it.’’
Patrick Delany, the CEO of the Foxtel Group, which oversees Fox Sports Australia and its NRL broadcasting rights, said V’landys “has a vision that if you can pick up a few fans in every country you could double the Australian audience, because we have only got 26 million people in the whole country.’’
Yvonne Sampson, one of the lead NRL analysts for Fox Sports, said the Las Vegas experience “is kind of like the Super Bowl for America,’’ adding, “We’re so grateful that we get to bring our game to the biggest entertainment sports hub in the world.’’
Delany said the Las Vegas venture “is getting bigger and bigger and accepted in Australia,’’ adding, “It’s not just seen as a one-off stunt.’’
The Aussies are all in.
