Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) is to launch its new season next year in Las Vegas, officials said yesterday, marking the first time NRL games are to be played in the US.
The Brisbane Broncos, Manly Sea Eagles, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters are to feature in a double-header at the 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium in March next year.
“The 2024 Las Vegas matches will form part of an exciting ‘Australia Week’ in Las Vegas where we will be showcasing rugby league and Australia to the US market,” NRL chief executive officer Andrew Abdo said in a statement. “Rugby league will be on a stage which the sport has simply never been on before and we look forward to giving all clubs the opportunity in coming years.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
The NRL has long wanted to stage games in the US as a way to grow the sport outside Australia.
NRL bosses have flagged a five-year plan for 10 premiership matches in Las Vegas, featuring all 17 teams, until the end of 2028.
Australian actor Hugh Jackman — a Manly Sea Eagles fan — has reportedly been asked to be Australia Week ambassador.
Sea Eagles chairman Scott Penn called it a “wonderful opportunity” and predicted that Americans would love what they see.
“The speed and physicality of the NRL and the amazing skills of our players will captivate the American sporting public,” Penn said. “And to have the great support of proud Manly man Hugh Jackman and the global reach he has is just incredible. We will do him proud next March.”
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
Taiwan’s top table tennis player Lin Yun-ju made his debut in the US professional table tennis scene by taking on a new role as a team’s co-owner. On Wednesday, Major League Table Tennis (MLTT), founded in September last year, announced on its official Web site that Lin had become part of the ownership group of the Princeton Revolution, one of the league’s eight teams. MLTT chief executive officer Flint Lane described Lin’s investment as “another great milestone for table tennis in America,” saying that the league’s “commitment to growth and innovation is drawing attention from the best in the sport, and we’re
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
RSS