Bolder and bigger in 2025: Data shows full potential of NRL's US strategy

Metrics from this month's historic double-header in Las Vegas have revealed the impact and future potential generated by the NRL's venture into the US sporting market. 

The first event in an ambitious five-year deal to take the game stateside, a crowd of 40,746 – a record for a rugby league game on American soil – attended the season-opener at Allegiant Stadium, with tickets for the showcase purchased in 31 counties around the world. 

In addition to the Sea Eagles v Rabbitohs game receiving a viewership average of 61,000 on Fox Sports 1 in the USA, the Roosters v Broncos match which followed broke a spate of domestic viewership records in Australia, including being the most watched Round 1 game on record. 

“Some of the performance metrics point to early success of the NRL’s US strategy. It is a long-term strategy, but the early signs are positive and encouraging," NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said. 

“The amount of travelling fans made the experience very special and the Clubs and players put on some great football.

“While the statistics are encouraging, there is significant room for growth and improvement.

This is only year one of our US strategy. We are committed to building a sustainable presence in a competitive but large US market over time.

Andrew Abdo

Outside of the two NRL matches played, the Las Vegas venture included a series of supporting events and corporate functions. 

A Vegas 9s competition for men and women attracted 30 teams and 450 players, with a preceding referees courses attended by 42 participants. 

The NRL Vegas Combine, involving 25 male and 25 female athletes from across multiple sporting backgrounds, saw two players from each group earn the opportunity to train with an elite team in Australia. 

For the two female winners, Canada's Megan Pakulis and the USA's MarCaya Bailous, it also meant the chance to take part in this week's Harvey Norman Woman's National Championships on the Gold Coast. 

A fan event in the week leading up to the game also saw the NRL become part of the famed Fremont Street Experience, with players and coaches attending to mingle with fans and Rugby League Las Vegas featuring on the world's largest LED canopy screen, the Viva Vision screen. 

Abdo said events surrounding the on-field action will continue to get bigger and better as the concept develops. 

“Outside of the event itself, we are working to keep growing the event week and developing long-term relationships with partners which will attract new fans to our sport," Abdo said. 

“Next year’s Las Vegas Round will be even bolder and bigger and the interest for 2025 has already been quite remarkable.”

Prior to the Las Vegas event, at the Australian Rugby League Commission AGM in February, Chairman Peter V’landys reiterated the commitment to a long-term approach and outlined the importance of the NRL product featuring on the Fox Sports Media Group's flagship channel Fox Sports 1. 

Exposure on Fox Sports 1 ensured the two matches at Allegiant Stadium were the two most watched NRL matches in the US on record, despite the second match kicking off after 12.30am on the East Coast, where the majority of the population lives.

The audience of the Sea Eagles v Rabbitohs game was three times higher than the most watched NRL Regular Season games on Fox Sports in the past three seasons.

Rugby League in Las Vegas also attracted significant numbers across the NRL's own digital channels, with over one million unique users visiting NRL.com and the NRL App in a 24-hour period on game day. 

That spike in engagement included over 44,000 visits from unique users in the USA and Canada during that same period. 

In total NRL in Las Vegas content published from August last year garnered 9.1 million views, with 2.3 million views and 100,000 engagements on the video of the NRL field being installed alone. 

Nationally, the event saw the NRL gain coverage across some of the US media’s biggest names, including the New York Post, Associated Press, Forbes, Fox News, Fox Sports, Washington Post, ESPN and ABC. 

Rugby League Las Vegas by the Numbers

Domestic Viewership

• Roosters v Broncos match-up attracted the highest viewership for a season opener on record, surpassing the next best by +10.5%
• Roosters vs. Broncos matchup attracted the highest Regular Season viewership for a match on record, surpassing the next best (the first match post COVID shutdown) by 5.7%
• The Roosters vs. Broncos matchup attracted the highest viewership for a Sunday 4pm match (Regular Season + Finals) on record, surpassing the next best by 6.5%
• The Sea Eagles vs Rabbitohs and Roosters vs Broncos matches attracted the highest Fox viewership for any matches on record (Regular Season + Finals)
• Both Matches had a combined television reach of 4.11m in Australia 

USA Viewership

• 61,000 average viewership on Fox Sports 1 for Manly vs Rabbitohs, despite the overtime match delaying the coverage and forcing the NRL to the much lower rating Fox Sports channel.
• 44,000 average viewership on Fox Sports 1 for Roosters vs Broncos
• These are the two most watched NRL matches in the US on record, despite the second match kicking off after 1230pm on the East Coast (where the majority of the population lives). The audience of the first game was three times higher than the most watched NRL Regular Season games on Fox Sports in the past three seasons.
• These are comparable to Major League Soccer. For further context, a Utah Jazz v Miami Heat NBA match on NBA TV drew 200,000. The college basketball match which ran overtime leading into the NRL matches drew 162,000 viewers 

NZ Viewership

• 80,000 average viewership on Sky Sports 4 for Manly v Rabbitohs
• 79,000 average viewership on Sky Sports 4 for Roosters v Broncos 

Attendance

• The crowd of 40,746 is the largest Rugby League crowd on American soil
• The crowd beat the 39,720 who watched the All Blacks play USA in 2021
• The highest crowd for a Major League Rugby match is 11,427 

Tickets

• More than 15,000 tickets were purchased in Australia
• More than 23,000 tickets were purchased in the USA
• Tickets were purchased in 31 countries around the world 

NRL Digital Engagement

• 1,045,270 unique users on NRL.com and NRL App (+43%) in 24-hour period March 2 (US)/March 3 (Australia)
• 40,870 unique users from the USA in 24-hour period March 2 (US)/March 3 (Australia) - (+185% on 2023 Friday of Round One, 2023)
• 4,390 users from Canada  (+95% on Friday of Round One, 2023)
• 1,749 new NRL accounts created from the USA between August and March, an increase of 167 percent on 2022/2023. 

Social Media Engagement

• Total engagements for NRL in Las Vegas content published since August 2023 was 2.78 million
• Total engagements for NRL in Las Vegas content during the event week was 1.76 million - 76% above the first two games of round one, 2023
• Total video views for NRL in Las Vegas content published since August 2023 was 9.1 million
• The “field installation” video had 2.3 million views and more than 100,000 engagements 

Resorts World

• Rooms Occupied: 580
• Total Number of Room Nights: 2500
• Average Duration of Stay: 4.3 Nights 

Fremont Street Fan Event

• The length of the Viva Vision screen, the largest LED canopy screen in the world, which was taken over by Rugby League Las Vegas graphics and video, was 419 metres
• The screen boasts 16.4 million pixels, and is suspended 90 feet above Fremont Street’s renowned pedestrian mall
• Previous events held there include Katy Perry new years eve concert and the NHL Golden Knights fan fest 

US Media Coverage

• There were more than 100 separate pieces of US media coverage during event week and post event
• Covered across all of Las Vegas’ main media outlets during the week – ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX5, Las Vegas Review Journal, key radio networks
• Nationally, the NRL was covered by some of US media’s biggest names – New York Post, Associated Press, Forbes, Fox News, Fox Sports, Washington Post, ESPN, ABC 

Hospitality

• 3670 guests across all hospitality events for the week
• 21 x NRL events from Wednesday – Sunday including:
  Wednesday - Media Launch
  Thursday – Las Vegas 9s
  Thursday – Fan Event at Fremont Street
  Friday – Las Vegas 9s
  Friday - Business of Sports Conference
  Friday - CEO Meeting
  Friday - Corporate Lunch
  Friday - US Trade Conference
  Friday - US Trade Cocktail Event
  NRL Combine
  Saturday - Game Day consisting of 7 x concurrent functions (VIP, Credit One, Champions Club, Twitch Lounge, Modelo, Suites & Trip A Deal Packages)
  Sunday – Commission Meeting
• 40,000 + crowd on game day
• 1 x corporate lunch sold out within 48 hours! 

Merchandise

• More than 10,000 NRL Las Vegas-branded merchandise items were sold in Las Vegas during event week
• The most popular item was the US-branded Steeden football 

Vegas 9s

• 30 teams and 450 players participated
• 42 participants were also part of a referees course
• Sacramento Immortals beat Roots Rugby Family in the Grand Final of the Men’s Competition
• All Canadian Grand Final in the Women’s Competition with Ontario Ospreys defeating the British Columbia Storm.

NRL Combine

• 25 Males & 25 Females were invited to attend the NRL Vegas Combine.
• The athletes from multiple sports such as American Football, Track & Field, Lacrosse, Rugby Union (15s & 7s)
  The winners were:
  Kristopher Leach - American Football Tight End. Played at Kent State University and was an undrafted agent at the Denver Broncos. 6 foot 6 inches and ran 20m in 2.92 Seconds. Also completed a 3-rep max on the bench press of 150kg.
  Michael Woolridge - Another American Football Player. Played at Saginaw Valley State University Cardinals as a Defensive Back. Was the most consistent performer across all tests at the combine. 4.52min 1.2km Shuttle Run, 2.8Sec 20m Sprint and a 3.2m Standing Broadjump.
  Megan Pakulis - Canadian International. From Toronto, Ontario. Played at the last two Rugby League World Cups. Made the World Cup Team of the Tournament. Middle Forward. Also played in the winning Vegas 9’s team, the Ontario Ospreys. Strongest Player female athlete at the Combine with a 7m Med Ball Thrown and 75KG 3RM Bench Press. 3rd Fastest with a 3.14 Sec 20m Sprint.
  MarCaya Bailous - USA International. From Cleveland, Ohio. Outside Back. Had her first taste of Rugby League at the London 9s in 2019.  Fastest Player at the combine with a 3.08 Sec 20m Sprint. Also in the top 2-3 in almost all other measures.