The NRL has blocked a planned exhibition match between the Penrith Panthers and Brisbane Broncos in Hawaii. This may not be a bad idea.
To consider Hawaii a litmus Test for the US is misguided at best.
In all honesty, a Super Rugby team would probably do the best of all potential Australian sports owing to the large population of Pacific iIslanders. Does that mean the contiguous states would be a haven for union, who knows?
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To put in perspective, Hawaii sits closer to Tokyo (6204km) than it does to New york (7990km) yet still is an equal member of the union along with the other 49 states. I’m also sure they eat sushi in Hawaii, and yet I have no idea how sumo wrestling would go in Hawaii.
But, and this is important, to suggest the rest of the US would embrace it seems especially naïve – the sport may be absolutely loved by the lower 48 states, but I would not put the house on it. And that’s the key point right there. I wouldn’t put the house on it.
Likewise, league in Hawaii is mostly irrelevant. With a population of 1.4 million (a substantial amount by any reckoning), it still pales in insignificance to the potential 300 million living elsewhere in the US territories (and I’m not getting into a debate about American samoa or Guam). So we are left with a potentially great, or not so great, turn out for an exhibition match in Hawaii.
Either a sold out game or an empty stadium would leave the NRL in much the same position. The question of whether to push into the mainland would remain unanswered.
Additional factors always play their part, and for all intents and purposes, the AFL is ‘ahead’; as such the NRL must catch up. I’m not quite sure what the NRL needs to catch up on, but I believe it to be on an economical and business level.
If only they had a magical, once in a lifetime springboard of opportunity to massively raise the potential supporter base of its game.
Oh wait, they do. He is called Jarryd Hayne – a San Franciscan foothold in the lower 48 states.
Surely there must be a way to generate interest and as a result, revenue, from such an icon of the game.
Surely he, above all, represents the absolute best of Australian sporting prowess. Spectacularly Australian he faced the steepest of learning curves and somehow came through it with both modesty and humilty.
I love the bloke. I may be misguided and delusional, but I want him to succeed.
So badly do I want him to be the greatest player the NFL has ever seen. To be safe in the knowledge that he wasn’t even our best. He was just the one we sent.
Ok, so that is a little unfair, he was (maybe, disputedly) our best, but god I want him to succeed. In a way, I want him to succeed because he has that thing that I prize most in life – my respect.
So, in short, here it is. My three point thought process.
1. I really want Hayne to do well.
2. I want league to capitalise upon this. Once again, I’m not sure how they can do this, but informing the NFL he is ‘Australian’ as opposed to a Kiwi is probably a start.
And …
3. I want the yanks to appreciate that our sporting talent (long exemplified at the Olympics) is as good as any US talent they can import or produce on their own.
For all of these reasons and many more, and I haven’t even dug into the player welfare stuff which seems awfully important around Origin time and yet awkwardly missing from anything outside those special six weeks, an exhibition game might not be such a great idea.
But, what remains after a discarded exhibition match is a way into this elusive American market.
And I have no thoughts on how that might be achieved.
What do you think?
Seriously, how do we get into this American market?
S.L. Craven
Guest
yeah, nrl has as much chance as hurling.
peeeko
Guest
its pretty awesome what JH has done but he is just one of 1600 players in the NFL and a fringe player at that. to suggest that one fringe player is going to convert Americans to his old sport beside one novelty game in SF is dreaming. I wish it could happen being a big NRL fan but as a USA resident people really dont care
peeeko
Guest
guys, i went to the match and there was no way there was 23k there. i was happy i was moved from my $33 seat to next to my oterh mates who paid $225. there was probably 15k at very best
nerval
Guest
The Wallabies were happy to do just that leading into the Chicago game, so was US head honcho Nigel Melville. You see, clipper, Hayne is a former rugby player - league not union.
Mike from Tari
Guest
Take a game to Frisco, bill it as the game that Jarryd Hayne that Jarryd Hayne came from, come & see future NFL stars.
Irritated by stupidity
Guest
What about an argument about Puerto Rico?
Mike Dugg
Roar Rookie
Hayne is already amongst the greats in America.football. It's only a matter of time before the nrl is up there with baseball and nba as popular American sports. Australia is on top
Jamieson Murphy
Roar Guru
Samoa and Tonga played each other in Hawaii early this year and drew a good crowd.
Marco
Guest
It's great for Hayne no doubt. But the NFL is getting so much publicity that the NRL should be getting at the moment. So many people are diverting their attention to what's happening in America.
Luke powell
Guest
Mean while fans in Adelaide and Perth get starved of rugby league.
clipper
Guest
You could say Rugby should capitalise on Hayne's publicity - all the reports refer to him as a Rugby player - the Americans that care wouldn't know the difference between the two codes - even the southern states here struggle.
Wal
Roar Guru
"To put in perspective, Hawaii sits closer to Tokyo (6204km) than it does to New york (7990km) yet still is an equal member of the union along with the other 49 states." And this is why I consider myself to live on the west island of NZ :) Christchurch is closer to Sydney, than Sydney to Perth 2141km v 3254km and is roughly the same as Adelaide to Perth So if we annex West of a line between Adelaide to Darwin call that Australia the east coast can become part of the republic of New Zealand
Niall
Guest
I bet the 49ers are enjoying negotiations with the jokers that run Parramatta.
Jackso
Guest
It was up against the Notre dame game on TV as well and Chicago has strong links with nearby Notre dame - the fact hat the US were flogged the previous year by NZ didn't help either...
The Barry
Roar Guru
This shouldn't be hard to cash in on. What about playing the 3 on 3 world club challenge in the US. That doesn't create an extra workload for the players. Parra can be one of the invitational teams for the Hayne tie-in. And I reckon American fans would get into the 'world championship' aspect better than an Eels v Tigers game or Mel-Bourne vs Bris-Bane...
Birdy
Guest
So many opportunities created by the Hayne plane. I hope Parramatta are being assisted by the NRL . A trial game next pre season would be perfect timing , strike while the irons hot. Even give parra a few ringins .
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
At this very point in time,officials of the Eels are liasing with 49er's officialdom re cross promotion and perchance the opportunity to play an NRL match involving the Eels (subject to NRL approval ).NFL games being shown at the Eels licensed club and cross sales merchandising. The situation with Hawaii is a completely different animal than San Fran,where there are heaps of Oz expats. The NRL has received more publicity in the USA via Hayne's entry even appearing on the NFL website ,than any time in its history.If that is a bad thing then I'm not here. The USARL people think it would be great promotion,should it go ahead.They have grown the game at the coal face on the East Coast. As I see it, should it go ahead ,it would be plus for the code and perhaps a bad idea for those who do not follow rugby league.Promotion is far better than staying hidden away.
Tyronecardinal
Guest
From a US rugby fan who reads the Roar a fair bit, the Wallabies match was a great success. I couldn't go unfortunately but I thought anything over 20k was going to be tough on Labor Day weekend and the start of college football. To get 23.5 was really good. Along with the 7's in Vegas and the college 7's in Philly plus the attendances for Eagles matches the past 3 or so years, USA rugby have been doing a great job.
steve
Guest
From all accounts USA rugby were really happy with the Wallabies match. Apart from 7's it was the second highest attended rugby match in USA rugby history, 23,500, beating out the 19,000 they got against Scotland last year and the 18,500 they got against Ireland in 2013. Plus they got a valuable warm up game against a decent opposition before the WC.
Aaron
Guest
what does your article have to do with the Wallabies? for your info, the Wallabies-Eagles match at Soldier Field a fortnight ago had a 23k-plus attendance, which is not bad and the PNC matches this year at Santa Clara and Sacramento had average crowds of 10k..