NRL CEO Andrew Abdo has stated that the addition of a women’s Test between Australia and England, as well as a Super League event in Vegas in 2025, are part of a long-term ambition to expand the game overseas.
And, according to Abdo, the inclusion of the four NRL teams – the Panthers, Sharks, Raiders, and Warriors – will help expand the game’s reach and may lead to partnerships with well-known NFL and NBA franchises.
The Panthers and Sharks will face off in a Sydney rivalry, while the Raiders and Warriors will compete in a record quadruple header that also includes Super League giants Wigan and Warrington and a women’s Test between Australia and England.
8 teams. 4 games. 1 epic ticket!
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RUGBY LEAGUE LAS VEGAS FESTIVAL 2025
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“This is the sequel, and we wanted to make sure that the sequel is bigger and better, so we have four fixtures – not two – and we thought very carefully and worked with all of the clubs to get this configuration right,” Abdo told reporters.
Abdo promises a bigger, bolder, and better Rugby League Festival in Las Vegas in 2025.Abdo promises a bigger, bolder, and better Rugby League Festival in Las Vegas in 2025.
Abdo promises a bigger, bolder, and better Rugby League Festival in Las Vegas in 2025.
“The great thing is that we’re giving four new clubs, their fan groups, and their members the opportunity to experience what we did in 2024, which was a fantastic event.
“We are now adding a women’s international with the Jillaroos against England, as well as a Super League game.
“I’m not aware of any previous occasion where we’ve had premiership points up for grabs in Super League and in the NRL at the same time, so we’re going to have rugby league fans from all over the world coming to see something unique.”
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The matches are arranged so that viewers in England can watch Wigan and Warrington on Saturday night, while Australian and New Zealand audiences will see the NRL fixtures and Jillaroos Test on Sunday afternoon.
While the Super League battle will bring even more English fans over the Atlantic than did this year’s historic NRL season opener, the Warriors will add a Kiwi flavor as teams from three countries compete in a fourth, America.
“It’s a credit to our chairman, Peter V’landys, who is always thinking about ways in which we can grow rugby league – not just the NRL competition, but globally,” Abdo told the media.
“When you consider the logistics that had to go into this, in terms of time zones, the field, and a quadruple header with both competitions playing live rounds for points, as well as an international women’s game, in an American stadium set up for Gridiron, there were a lot of challenges.
“But the Super League teams have been fantastic, as has the Super League, and we’re extremely excited now to do something for the first time ever that is strategically significant for us, for the expansion of the game in America, as well as the growth of the game in the United Kingdom and Europe.
“By introducing Super League, we have engaged and united the Northern and Southern Hemispheres in our long-term goal of expanding rugby league.
🎬 𝙇𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨, 𝘾𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙖, 𝙑𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙨!
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“That’s not just the NRL competition, that’s the NRLW, that’s Super League and that’s everything that we offer fans.”
The Canberra Raiders’ inclusion in the 2025 Vegas package is appealing in part because they share a nickname with the Las Vegas Raiders, who play at Allegiant Stadium and are anticipated to have local support.
However, cries of “Up the Wahs” are planned to challenge the Viking Clap, and the Warriors also share a synergy with the Golden State Warriors, the San Francisco NBA franchise.
Don Furner comments on the Las Vegas announcement. Don Furner comments on the Las Vegas announcement.
Don Furner comments on the Las Vegas announcement.
“The commission made it clear that this is a long-term commitment to America, which meant that we want to provide all the clubs the opportunity over the next few years of getting to experience this,” Abdo told the press.
“I’m very pleased with where we’ve landed, with the opportunity for the first time ever to have the Warriors play the Raiders in that opening fixture, which opens up two new markets for us: the ACT and New Zealand.”
“Then we’ve got the Sydney derby between the Penrith Panthers and the Cronulla Sharks, which are both fantastic games.
“I’d like to commend and thank the clubs for the effort they’ve put into their proposals on how they can help us make this a great experience, not only for their fans in Australia and New Zealand to travel and experience, but also for how we’re going to showcase our sport to a massive global market, particularly in America.
“We obviously have the Las Vegas Raiders, the Canberra Raiders, the Golden State Warriors, and the New Zealand Warriors.
“There is an opportunity for the clubs to collaborate with franchises in America across multiple sports, form partnerships, and consider how we can get those fans in America to lean in and begin to follow the NRL.”
“That’s exciting for us and that’s part of our long-term strategy.”
With no women’s contact sport in the United States to compare to the NRLW, Abdo predicted that the Test between the Jillaroos and England, the penultimate match on the list, would attract American fans.
“I think it’s an opportunity in two markets for us,” he told me.
“Our existing rugby league fans will be curious and delighted to watch Australia play England, since this hasn’t happened in a number of years [since 2017], and this is an interesting rivalry ahead of the Ashes tour later this year.
“To have those teams play in Las Vegas has never been done before, and the second goal is to introduce our female athletes to new audiences, particularly American fans.
“I don’t think they would have seen female sport played at the level of speed, stamina, skill and intensity of our female rugby league players, so there is an opportunity to win new fans.”
An exit poll of fans in the 40,746 audience at Allegiant Stadium for this year’s Roosters-Broncos, Sea Eagles-Rabbitohs doubleheader revealed that 31% had never attended an NRL game before.
Of those polled, 27% were US nationals, 5% had come from Canada, and 6% were British.
“I’m excited to see English fans descending on Las Vegas, but as we saw in 2024, we had rugby league fans from up to 20 countries making the trip to America,” Abdo told the audience.
“There are a lot of English, Australian and New Zealand expatriates living in America so this is their opportunity to get a flavour of rugby league, a sport that they know and love.”
