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Champions Day Bonus Bets giveawayWhy NRL is considering shrinking Las Vegas showcase for 2026
Jasper Bruce, AAP • March 3rd, 2025 3:20 pm
Photo: Photosport
The NRL will consider cutting its Las Vegas program from four games to three next year, with Peter V'landys admitting fluctuating crowds has become an issue.
The curtain came down on the league's second trip to Sin City on Sunday (NZT) after two NRL fixtures, one Super League clash and a women's Test match.
Some 45,209 fans attended Allegiant Stadium in total for a program with twice the amount of football than presented in the 2024 Vegas visit that featured only the two NRL games.
The action-packed 2025 program enticed thousands of fans to travel over from England to see both their national women's team play Australia, and the Super League clash between Wigan and Warrington.
The Warriors Live team sign off from Vegas | League Nation
But the unwieldy length proved an issue for some punters.
Allegiant Stadium does not permit pass-outs, meaning fans who arrived for the first game and left after the fourth were at the ground for a total of nine hours.
Only combined crowd data is available, but it was clear the stadium was at its fullest for the second game - between NRL sides Canberra and the Warriors - before steadily declining.
The stands were noticeably emptier for Cronulla's heavyweight clash against Penrith - the fourth and theoretically most hotly-anticipated game of the day.
Australian Rugby League chair V'landys told AAP the league was already revising the number of games that would be played for the third year of its five-year deal.
"We're looking at three next year," he said.
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"(Because of the) length of day and fans leaving after their teams played."
Spreading the games across two days is also unlikely to be an option, given it would come with a greater financial burden.
How the NRL would reconfigure the schedule will therefore become a point of contention.
The Super League fixture between Wigan and Warrington brought with it an estimated 10,000 travelling English fans.
St George Illawarra, Canterbury, Newcastle and North Queensland have also indicated their interest to play NRL matches in Vegas next year.
League bosses will also need to work out how to best sell the women's game to the USA, after the Jillaroos flogged England 90-4.
