LOUIS BURKE | Culture | CONTACT

The National Rugby League has made a bold move towards becoming a post-gambling code by hosting the season opening games in Las Vegas to get away from the excessive punting culture of QLD and Western Sydney.

In a marketing move that has baffled half of the nation’s dads, and wowed the other half, the NRL is trying to grow Australia’s alleged number one sport in the USA by hosting two season opening games in Las Vegas that will air from the perfectly normal time of 1:30pm AEST.

According to NRL chairman Peter V’Landys, not only will playing two of the 192 regular season games in America attract an international following, it will allow four teams to play in an environment that isn’t entirely focussed on gambling unlike the one they usually play in.

“Gambling is good for the fans but it will be nice to have a weekend away from it once in a while,” stated Peter V’Landys who has already has his Adele tickets booked.

“American fans are going to fall in love with our game without the gambling association and I’d bet my life on that.”

Sports broadcasters would like to remind Australians who will be tuning into the Vegas games from a country that actually likes rugby league that their usual slew of gambling ads will continue to punctuate their sports coverage with all the grace of a tattoo needle during a blackout.