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Sport Nation
WATCH: Is 'Rugby League In Vegas' actively growing the sport in the USA?
Logan Swinkels • March 10th, 2025 2:26 pm
Sport Nation's Sam Hewat with USARL chair Matt Goschnick
For those who watched NRL's season opening event at home in Australia or New Zealand, it may be hard to gauge from your screens what sort of impact sending a bunch of rugby league teams to Las Vegas is doing for the game.
Take my word for it, the famous strip on Las Vegas Boulevard was humming with footy jerseys from many clubs, in particular the NZ Warriors, Wigan Warriors, plus a healthy dose of the Panthers, Sharks and Raiders.
The party atmosphere of it all was contagious, it was a true celebration of fandom.
But outside of being a cool destination, what is it actually doing for rugby league in the United States of America?
While Sport Nation's NRL team was in Vegas to cover the NZ Warriors, we decided to head 20 minutes east of the strip to Silver Bowl Park in Henderson, Nevada to see the NRL Nines tournament.
There, Sam Hewat caught up with US Association of Rugby League (USARL) chair Matt Goschnick to find out more about how the game is attracting new athletes and developing in various states, their bid for the 2030 Rugby League World Cup, plus what benefits there are to bringing NRL, Super League and international teams to Vegas on an annual basis.
Watch the full interview with Matt Goschnick via the Sport Nation YouTube below:
