The National Rugby League (NRL Telstra Premiership) is a top-tier professional rugby league in Australia and New Zealand, captivating fans since 1908. Now, the NRL is focusing on expanding to the United States, aiming to attract American audiences with the fast-paced action of NRL games and minimal padding compared to American football.
Quick Highlights:
- 4 NRL games hosted in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the first weekend of March 2025
- 45,209 spectators attended, a significant increase from last year’s crowd
- New Zealand’s audience surpassed 300,000 across SKY Sport platforms, tripling the previous year’s viewership for the Las Vegas matches.
- England and Australia’s Women’s teams faced off in the inaugural Women’s sporting contest at Allegiant Stadium, drawing attention for its historical significance
- Around 10,000 English fans traveled for a Super League fixture between Wigan and Warrington, showcasing the growing international fanbase
Fan and Media Reactions from Las Vegas
The NRL has been received very warmly by American fans and spectators.
Premiership winner Michael Ennis highlighted several aspects of the game that are likely to captivate U.S. audiences, particularly the differences from the NFL: “[Americans] love the no stoppage. They’re fascinated by the no pads and no helmets.”
This was widely confirmed on matchday. One Vegas Raiders fan who attended the showcase described the experience as, “Exciting, amazing, incredible, non-stop action. [The players] aren’t padded up, which surprised me a lot.”
The raw athleticism on display also left a strong impression. UNLV Football Foundation Director and former Iowa College football player noted, “The power of the hits is unbelievable… there’s no way I would do this. It’s just a different level of athletic ability, I love it.”
Growing the Game of Rugby
Fox Sports has made a significant investment in the NRL’s U.S. expansion. This marks the second year of a five-year partnership between the league and the broadcaster, which allows select NRL games (including the Las Vegas matches) to be aired on FS1 in the United States.
Fox League’s Braith Anasta emphasized the importance of this move: ““This is our showcase event. This is big for us. To bring it to the United States of America, to get your fans hopefully on board.”
Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany added: “We come from this little island at the bottom of the world. The images that went back to Sydney and Melbourne and everywhere last year, Australians were just knocked out.” Delany also noted the success of the venture, pointing out that the visibility in the U.S. has made a significant impact in attracting American interest in the league.
Expanding Viewership and Engagement
The crowd of 45,209 exceeded last year’s turnout, and two new global sponsors—Red Bull and JD Sports—joined the event. Although American TV viewership numbers are still pending, broadcasting the event on Fox introduces the sport to millions of new potential viewers.
Other broadcasters are also eager to tap into this growing audience. Kayo Sports is promoting their membership for streaming the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership live, offering new customers the chance to stream every game with no ad breaks in play, including shows like NRL 360 and The Late Show with Matty Johns. For a limited time, Kayo is offering their standard and premium memberships for just $1 in the first month, down from the usual $25 and $40, respectively.
Why America?
The U.S. presents an attractive market for the NRL, with a population of 316.67 million—a whopping 14 times larger than Australia’s. This gives the league a significant potential audience for growth.
The massive U.S. population has a strong appetite for both sports and sports betting, which has been a significant revenue source for the NRL through Australian sportsbooks. While American sportsbooks currently don’t support the same revenue model, the NRL sees the U.S. betting market as a major growth opportunity.
Americans regularly place bets on a wide range of events, even low-level sports, and when broadcasts are available, bettors tend to stay engaged throughout the game, often placing additional bets as the event unfolds. The NRL is positioning itself as a “non-traditional” sport for U.S. sportsbooks, aiming to generate more revenue from American audiences by leveraging live broadcasts.
Key Challenges Ahead
The UK’s Super League already broadcasts its rugby matches on FanDuel, directly competing with the NRL for the same audience. However, due to the significant time zone difference between the UK and Australia, overlapping broadcasts are unlikely to be a major issue.
One challenge that has emerged is the length of the showcase. The NRL is considering shortening its Vegas event to three games in 2026. While the Women’s Test match between Australia and England and the Super League fixture between Wigan and Warrington attracted thousands of spectators from England, the four back-to-back matches proved too lengthy for many fans.
Crowd size began to dwindle after the second game (between NRL teams Canberra and the Warriors), with noticeably fewer supporters attending the final match (Cronulla vs. Penrith), despite it being the most highly anticipated game of the day.
Many suggested spreading the games across two days, but this would increase costs significantly, making it an unlikely solution.
What the Future Holds
The growing popularity of rugby and the NRL in the U.S. presents unique opportunities for players, teams, and leagues to connect with fans through broadcasts and social media.
Between January and September 2023, NRL clubs saw significant growth on social media, adding nearly 400,000 new followers on Instagram—an increase of almost 12%—and more than 90,000 new followers on Facebook.
At Athelo Group, we recognized rugby’s growing appeal among American audiences when we signed U.S. rugby player Christian Dyer in 2023—and we’ve believed in its rise ever since. We align athletes with scalable, emerging sponsorship opportunities that have international appeal. As social media engagement grows and the sport expands into new markets, rugby provides a powerful platform for players and brands to collaborate and reach a wider global audience.