NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has re-affirmed a desire to take an Origin game overseas – and Las Vegas is one venue being touted.
Moving this year’s second game to Perth was a resounding success and the NRL is confident of further growth when a match is taken to Adelaide next year.
Origin will return to Melbourne in 2021 but Greenberg is keen to explore international options from 2022.
“There is some aspiration from us to consider how big we can take that,” he told Macquarie Sports Radio.
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“What I mean by that is are we prepared to consider New Zealand?
“And then do we go bigger than that? Are we prepared to actually take it overseas?”
There would be no shortage of international cities keen to host an Origin game, with the US market the most tempting.
Greenberg said: “This is the single biggest sporting event in the country by far, so will we be brave enough to consider taking it to an international market?
“Maybe in the next broadcast cycle we’d be happy to look at it.
As for playing a game in Las Vegas – the entertainment capital of the world – Greenberg said: “It is open for us to consider. You’d also have to go through time zones and broadcast times back here.
“I don’t know what time we’d have to play it there (Las Vegas) to get it back here in prime time but I wouldn’t rule anything out, not at all.”
But Greenberg concedes the NRL will potentially face blowback from fans and clubs if they attempt to shift an Origin game overseas.
Still, he sees it as a risk worth taking.
“There’s no doubt we copped a bit of criticism, but if you’re genuinely going to try and grow the game you’ve got to be prepared to do things a little differently,” he said.
“You’ve got to keep trying new things.
“It’s a big call (to go overseas) and I’ve spoken to some of the senior players about this and I think their view is it’s very much a local product.
“Having said that, if I can demonstrate how to grow revenue then I’d reckon they’d be pretty interested.”