The Australian National Rugby League (NRL) is looking to expand its horizons with plans to grow the game to all corners of the globe.
Fox Sports said that after a successful match in Las Vegas, chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission Peter V’landys and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo have discussed the feasibility of an NRL ‘Global Round’.
Sydney (Australia)-based the National Rugby League (NRL) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, and New Zealand.
The NRL is reported to be keen to have several teams play in different cities around the world including London, Paris and Dublin to kick off the 2027 season.
While one report stated every game in Round 1 could go overseas – with cities like Dubai and Hong Kong mentioned – it’s more likely up to six games would be played outside of Australia and New Zealand.
It would be an expensive exercise and many hoops would have to be jumped through to pull it off, but V’landys is daring to dream. The idea was recently discussed at a ARL Commission meeting.
V’landys says the idea is in the “very early days” but revealed that the NRL have been approached by “other countries about playing a game there”.
V’landys said, “The 2027 season (opening round) is a target but it’s got to go through the ARL Commission, through the clubs and the players.
“It will depend on which countries show interest. It’s been very well done by the NFL. The NFL has games everywhere around the world now. That can see the globalisation strategy and it’s working for them.
“If you want to grow the game, that’s the way to grow it, to take it to new frontiers. There is a lot of interest in different areas about taking rugby league to different countries because of the success of Las Vegas and the amount of tourism it has brought in.
“Tourist bureaus have basically seen the potential of having a rugby league game. It would also help us with international broadcast rights. You can’t just rest on your laurels.”
V’landys also explained how a ‘Global Round’ would work if the NRL are able to pull it off.
He added, “It would be one round, similar to what we do in Vegas. Rather than just games in Vegas, you could take other games around the world. It definitely won’t be every game. It might be half-half.
“Teams (who played in Global Round) would go back and have a week off to recover. It would be the first round for some teams but not the first round for all teams.
“If it goes to the next step, then we would consult everybody and do-up a plan about what countries we would go to.”
Rugby League Las Vegas is an annual event held primarily at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas showcasing the sport of rugby league.
The inaugural event was established in 2023 by Australia’s NRL to host two matches of the 2024 NRL season opening round, and was done so with the aim of expanding the audience of the competition and develop rugby league in the United States.
The event, initially contracted until 2028, was expanded to include clubs from the United Kingdom’s Super League in 2025.
The initial joining of Super League clubs was arranged on a club level with the NRL before a formal agreement was arranged for Super League’s regular inclusion for future events.
Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.
Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.