NRL confirm plans to play an opening round game in US, possibly in 2019
NRL confirm plans to play an opening round game in US, possibly in 2019
RUGBY League is coming to America. And it’s not for just a one-off Test match.
The NRL’s long-held plan to launch their season proper in the US is on the verge of becoming a reality — as soon as this time next year.
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg has confirmed that planning and discussions with TV broadcasters Fox Sports and Nine is in full swing to launch a history-making opening-round clash in 2019 and 2020.
Greenberg said the code’s long-term strategy to grow the game in North America ahead of the 2025 World Cup was behind the motivation to host an NRL match on US soil.
A proposed one-off mid-year Test match between England and New Zealand in Denver later this year is a part of that strategy.
Next year we could have teams playing for points in America,’’ Greenberg said. “We’re actively working on that now for 2019 and 2020.”
“What the clubs are looking for and why they are finding this hard to deal with and why we won’t come out and announce a single game, is that they are looking for a broader plan.
“They’re looking for the strategy of what international football looks like and for us how do we plug into that, helping with some domestic games from our competition.
“I think a broader plan is what people are looking for.
“If we’re going to grow the game, what does that look like ... over a longer period of time.’’
“We’re in discussions about that now.’’
The Sunday Telegraph first revealed last March of the NRL’s intent to launch the upcoming season in the US with South Sydney playing Parramatta on the west coast of America.
Greenberg explained why the proposal needed to be delayed.
“We couldn’t get the right scheduling that suited the broadcasters and didn’t impact player workload,’’ Greenberg said.
“So those are both very big components for us to be able to fix. We’re in conversations with both the broadcast partners now.
“This is more than a year away but we will start the 2019 draw discussions in about a month or two.
“We start planning our 2019 draw in April. The ball is in our court in regards to scheduling and player workload.”
Head of Fox Sports Steve Crawley said he would support the NRL’s expedition to the US.
“We’re partners of the NRL and as such, would support them if it meant more fans and more viewers are exposed to rugby league,’’ Crawley said.
Nine director of sport Tom Malone added his backing to the concept.
“We’ll be guided by the leadership of the NRL — they’re putting in a lot of work to make this happen and we’d like to support them as a broadcast partner,’’ Malone said.
There are two scheduling possibilities being proposed within the halls of League Central.
The first option is that the US fixture kicks-off the season on a stand-alone weekend of footy in early March, on the Sunday afternoon prior to the remaining round one matches being played, from the following Thursday night.
The other option is that the match to played on US soil is staged on the same weekend as the remaining round one fixtures, with the two teams chosen to showcase rugby league in America, then provided with the longest possible time to return home and recover for their round two matches.
If the first option was chosen, the NRL have also discussed hosting their annual season launch back in Australia to coincide with the US-fixture.
Similar to the successful season launch held among fans and members at Circular Quay on Thursday, live sites and food stalls would be provided for fans to watch the American-based clash on jumbo screens.
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