Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves could play in front of Donald Trump in Las Vegas with the NRL planning to host the President.
Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys has confirmed that efforts will be made to introduce rugby league to the US President at the Las Vegas event in March, meaning Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves could play in front of arguably the most powerful man in the world.
V’landys is one of the biggest driving forces behind the event and he has told The Daily Telegraph in Australia about the numbers of fans the event will reach, how they plan to sell Nathan Cleary as their version of Tom Brady, and also how they’re targeting Donald Trump.
Prior to the inaugural Vegas event, V’landys attended the White House and met former President Joe Biden and he’s now confirmed that efforts will be made to sell the NRL to Trump by inviting him to the games.
“I’m going to give it a go,” V’landys told the Telegraph.
“Donald is a sports lover. He has hosted Dana White (UFC boss) and we have a great relationship with the UFC.
“You never know. We will certainly give it a crack.”
Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves to play in front of huge TV audience as NRL lands mega deal
He has also highlighted how big the event will be relative to the first one in 2024 with impressive ticket sales and a huge TV deal that will help the game reach a “minimum of 500,000 viewers”.
“It will definitely be bigger than last year,” the ARLC chairman argued.
“We are expecting 50-60,000 fans and have already sold over 35,000 tickets. We will be doing a lot more marketing and it’s the first time it’s going on free-to-air television in America which will be a minimum of 500,000 viewers.
“We have nearly 20,000 Australians travelling over there. We have a New Zealand team and Super League teams (Wigan and Warrington) that will attract people from England.
“It’s not an easy path to attract Americans but we will get there.”
Promoting sports in America is so often based on the superstars of that sport and V’landys believes that the NRL can do the same with Nathan Cleary as the NFL did with Tom Brady for so long.
“He’s a once-in-a-generation player,” V’landys argued of Cleary.
“He has got everything. He is a good human being, extremely talented and a very thoughtful bloke with the things he does behind the scenes. He is just a good person.
“His talent is immeasurable. He is a game breaker and a lot of the reason Penrith has won it the last four years. He is the perfect guy to get a following in America.”
