Kudos to the NRL, V’landys and Abdo for having the guts to try something big

When I first heard that the NRL was planning to open its 2024 season in Las Vegas, I thought Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys was nuts. How on Earth could this possibly work? How would Australian fans feel about the NRL turning its gaze to the US market, particularly when other codes have tried and failed? And what happens when a player trips up in Sin City?

This week’s slightly delayed note comes to you from Las Vegas, where over the past week any scepticism about the NRL’s experiment has been shattered. First, a disclaimer: I travelled to Vegas as a guest of the NRL, along with executives from other media companies. The NRL has also assisted with the costs of sending several Herald journalists to be here, but the support has no influence over how we cover the season opener, or my views about whether the venture has been worthwhile.

I am writing this note having just returned from Allegiant Stadium, a stunning $US1.9 billion ($2.9 billion) 65,000-seat covered arena where the NFL’s Super Bowl was held just a few weeks ago. As NRL fans would know, the Manly Sea Eagles defeated the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the first game and the Sydney Roosters overran the Brisbane Broncos in the second – a game that was somewhat marred by accusations Roosters recruit Spencer Leniu had called Brisbane five-eighth Ezra Mam a “monkey”.

Nearly 41,000 people were in the stadium, a number I believe – racial slur aside – makes the Las Vegas gamble a winner. (The total figure would have been even higher had Vegas not been battered on game day by the strongest winds since 1985, which caused havoc at the airport and in the streets surrounding the stadium.) But the US push is about much more than just filling a stadium. As Adrian Proszenko recently wrote in the Herald, the NRL has thrown all of its chips in with its Vegas gamble, committing to playing games in Sin City until at least the end of 2028. The goal is to get a heap of Americans slowly engaged with the game via the Watch NRL app, which provides fans outside Australia and New Zealand access to all men’s and women’s competition games, as well as State of Origin. The cost to Americans is $US169 ($229) a year and only 3000 have subscribed.

As V’landys explained to Proszenko: “If we can get 1 per cent of the US population over five years, that’s 3.4 million people. You times that by $US169, that’s around $577 million. Even if we were to get half of that, that’s more than $250 million. There are 300,000 Australians living in the US. Even if we got half of those, that’s an extra $25 million. It’s huge.”

The booming US sports wagering market is another chance to cash in. NRL chief executive officer Andrew Abdo says sports wagering is being rapidly deregulated in America and fans are embracing the opportunity to bet on matches. A deal is yet to be struck with a betting firm but once it is, the NRL will take a cut of all bets made on the competition.

However, the US market is a notoriously tough nut to crack and we won’t know for years whether the league’s big goals have been achieved. Or, as the Herald’s chief sports writer Andrew Webster put it, if the “Vegas experiment will turn out to be a ridiculously expensive boys’ trip to Sin City or a venture that will reap financial rewards for decades”.

But this week has demonstrated that the NRL is not going to die wondering. The Strip is covered in NRL advertisements with the tagline “No pads. No helmets. No fear.” Actor Russell Crowe even filmed a video explaining the rules and history of the NRL. Deals have been struck with hotel companies and tourism authorities for cheaper rates. Clubs that stayed home this year are already lobbying to go to Nevada in 2025.

At the start of last week here in Vegas, there was still a great deal of anxiety about whether this would all turn out to be a fizzer. A key moment occurred on Wednesday evening, when NRL executives breathed a collective sigh of relief at the sight of thousands of fans who packed Fremont Street in Vegas to meet the players. The buzz that night was off the Richter scale.

The Rabbitohs’ Thomas Burgess greets fans during the NRL season launch at Fremont Street, Las Vegas.

None of this happens by accident and I reckon V’landys, Abdo and the NRL team deserve huge credit for having the guts to do something big and risky.

Finally, I want to end with a reflection on the truly horrific fortnight so many people in Sydney have just endured following the alleged murder of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.

Tragedy doesn’t begin to describe what has occurred here: two beautiful, talented and much-loved young men cut down in their prime by a seemingly calm and calculating offender. It’s sickening and it’s scary.

I never knew Jesse and Luke, but their deaths in Paddington last month have affected me in ways I had not expected. Many people in Sydney – and in particular its gay community – feel the same or worse, including some of my close friends who knew both men and adored them. There is something very familiar about Jesse and Luke. It’s not hard to imagine they could have been your friend, partner, family member or colleague. Perhaps this is one reason why their deaths have hit so many in Sydney so hard.

Another reason is the violent manner in which their lives were allegedly taken, and the disturbing attempts of the accused murderer, NSW Police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, to cover his tracks.

Each day has delivered new and cruel blows. First, the revelation that a suspect in the pair’s disappearance was a NSW Police officer. Secondly, that forensics had determined Lamarre-Condon’s police-issued gun had been fired in Jesse’s home. That a white van was allegedly hired to remove the bodies. That the bodies were placed in recently purchased surfboard bags. That one of Jesse’s housemates prodded one of the bags with their finger, not knowing what was inside. That Lamarre-Condon allegedly sent texts from Jesse’s phone long after the TV presenter and AFL umpire had been shot in an apparent attempt to make sure friends didn’t become suspicious. That the bodies were allegedly dumped in a dam near Goulburn before being removed to another site nearby. That friends of Lamarre-Condon may have assisted in his attempt to dispose of the surfboard bags and any forensic evidence inside the white van that transported them. That he spent days not informing police about where he left Jesse and Luke – a despicable act that compounded the already unimaginable grief of the pair’s family and friends.

The Herald has put a lot of thought and care into how we cover this important story, and I would like to extend our deepest condolences to Jesse and Luke’s family, friends and colleagues. I would also like to thank the Herald reporters, photographers and editors who have covered this horrible story with great diligence.

Thanks for reading and have a great week.