Footy boss Peter V'landys says NRL games will be annual event in Vegas

ARL boss Peter V’landys’ ambitious vision of having a double-header match played in in 2024 will happen, but it may just be a segment of what he is planning.The rugby league supremo said the one-time, three day NRL extravaganza he first planned will now turn into a full week Australian NRL Expo, such has been the explosion of interest in his project.     ‘We are talking with Las Vegas tourism right now and they are keen on supporting us with Australia Week,’ V’landys told .
‘If we get it going, it will be massive.’The Brisbane Broncos are the first confirmed team to lead the charge in 2024, with three other sides to be named, but stars like actor Hugh Jackman and super band U2 are now in discussions to appear during the week also which will showcase all things Australia to the American public.  The NRL double-header in 2024 will be played at Allegiant Stadium (pictured) home of the Las Vegas Raiders with a capacity of 65,000’U2 are going to be playing for three months in Las Vegas next year and we have had meetings to get them to be part of our festival,’ said V’landys.’It’s the perfect timing for our Australian NRL Expo because it’s in between sports in America, so the full focus will be on us in that week.’We can have boxing and UFC events with Australians competing and we have discussed having top-line Australian artists performing in concerts too.’But while his NRL expo looks very much like morphing into a full-blown Aussie invasion that week, it is the expected gambling revenue V’landys’ who runs NSW horse racing also, is after. Visionary Peter V’landys (pictured) thought his NRL launch in Las Vegas next year would be a 3-day event but it has grown to a week long Australian ExpoThere is gold to be made for rugby league should V’landys successfully tap into the betting streams available in the North American market. ‘Vegas will go ahead,’ he said.

‘I believe in the next two weeks it will be sorted, we are very close … it could be announced by the end of next week.’Anyone that stands still goes backwards in the end and we need to look at these different initiatives to grow the game.’There are 330 million people in America and if we get one per cent of their betting market, it’s an enormous revenue stream for the game.’V’landys said also that as the news slot demo gates of olympus his NRL Expo has spread, Australian stars, and companies are approaching him to be involved — hence the week-long event now.‘We are talking to a number of parties and the more we speak, the more it’s becoming Australia Week in Vegas. ‘We’ve had a stack of parties contacting us — not the other way around — because they can see the potential of Australia Week. The high-flying Brisbane Broncos (in white) are confirmed as one of the four NRL sides who will play in the double-header planned for Vegas in 2024 Legendary band U2 (pictured) will be playing in Las Vegas and ARL boss Peter V’landys has invited them to be part of the Australia Week Expo he has planned’It has unlimited potential to be the major event in the US every year to promote Australia and the NRL will be the headline partner.The rugby league matches will be played at the picturesque Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.Later this year the impressive stadium will host concerts by Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and Beyonce as well as sold-out NFL matches between Las Vegas and the Pittsburgh Steelers; the New York Giants; the New York Jets; the Minnesota Vikings and on November 26, the reigning Superbowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs.It holds 65,000 fans and is located right next door to the famed Las Vegas strip.V’landys fully anticipates this Australia Week Expo will be an annual thing with a double-header played every season, rotating between all NRL clubs.