Ahead of Hull KR v Leeds Rhinos in Las Vegas, Sky Sports Rugby League’s Brian Carney shares his memories from the flagship event and takes us behind the scenes of rugby league’s glamour…
Rugby league dominates the vast city
As you can imagine, this will be the case for Hull KR and Leeds fans this year, and the same may have been the case for Wigan and Warrington fans last year. Excitement begins to build in Vegas more than a week ahead of time.
It made a big splash at the start, especially last year when Michael Buffer attended the Wigan v Leigh game to kick off the season and filmed a Vegas advert.
You can feel the passion of the people I met at Manchester Airport when they see the rugby league uniforms as they gather to cross the Atlantic to watch a rugby league match.
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Michael Buffer was on hand to introduce Wigan and Leigh players ahead of the new Super League season.
Some of them were heading to New York for a few days before heading to Las Vegas, but I’m talking about the flood of uniforms at Manchester Airport. This surprised me in a way, but raised my expectations a little higher.
Once we arrived in Las Vegas we started shooting and filming very quickly. It’s a very busy city with lots of visual distractions, bright lights etc, but the rugby league uniforms stand out.
We went to the famous sign in Las Vegas on the first day, and it was overflowing with Super League and NRL kits.
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Michael Buffer made a surprise visit to Las Wigan Chapel to announce their wedding!
It does not disappear from that vast city. That was really what stood out to me the most.
There was a lot going on, but rugby league was definitely at the top of the list in Las Vegas.
Behind the Scenes: Festive Atmosphere on Fremont Street
The team landed early this week, adjusting for jet lag and doing some light training.
They’ll also notice a real increase starting Thursday.
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The Battle of Yorkshire heads to Las Vegas in 2026, where Hull KR take on Leeds Rhinos. Both clubs are honored to take part in this event. Hear what they had to say on The Verdict!
They all stay at the Resorts World Hotel, which once again shows off the scale of hotels in Las Vegas. Last year we accommodated eight teams. This includes all staff, all club officials and all governing body officials in the NRL and Super League.
Not only that, there are also thousands of tourists in the same hotel.
At Wednesday’s fan event, each team will be introduced one by one to Resort World. They have functional areas and time slots are assigned to each side. So their fans gather there and get introduced.
Then head to Freemont Street on Thursday. It’s something special.
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Rugby League has arrived in Las Vegas with Super League fan events ahead of the Wigan v Warrington and Australia v England matches.
Freemont Street is in the older part of Vegas. Players all stay in what they call the New Vegas Strip and Old Town Vegas is Fremont Street.
Once you get there, the buildings start to open in the afternoon, and the amount of uniforms gradually increases.
By 6 o’clock, everyone is flocking there to get the best viewing position, creating a path through the crowd to the stage.
Taking over all of Fremont Street is quite another. It seemed like a very busy pass but it turned into a rugby league extravaganza.
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With the Super League taking place in Las Vegas, we decided to see how many club badges Sin City can guess!
The players take the stage and the noise is deafening for each and every one of them.
There is a huge cheer as many opposition fans and even non-club fans who come on stage are all rugby league fans and are only too happy to see the players at such an event.
The atmosphere is noisy. There’s music, there’s a DJ, an emcee keeps the crowd moving, and the sound filters through for hours. It’s a really, really big night.
Game Day Is Coming: The Awe of Allegiant Stadium
Then on Friday, it’s a walk-on day for the team run day. They all take the field at Allegiant Stadium. It is an incredibly beautiful indoor stadium.
You can see the faces of the players as they walk out and remember that these players have played in many great stadiums.
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Take a look behind the scenes at Allegiant Stadium ahead of Las Vegas Rugby League 2025.
But what stands out is that every little detail is explained. Last year, when Wigan or Warrington or Cronulla took to the pitch for team action, all the branding on the pitch changed to their team. It’s a very small detail, but it makes the whole thing look much more professional and polished.
All players immediately participated in the football game. I especially remember enjoying watching the Warriors scrimmage last year.
We were filming early on the morning of the match and there were a ton of rugby league fans there.
We met some Cumbrians from the south of England in their rugby league shirts and everyone was buzzing.
Rugby league is having a great moment | Time to step up a gear!
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Highlights from the clash between Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves in Las Vegas.
It just makes you, as a rugby league fan, feel like your sport is the best in the world. We can’t get enough of this moment and it feels like rugby league has really been elevated in Las Vegas.
It’s one of those rare times when I thought rugby league was somewhere I wanted to be on a regular basis.
In many ways, this is exactly what we need to strive for and achieve more regularly. It was well attended and loud, with some people paying a lot of money to fly long distances to enjoy this experience.
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Tyler Dupree, nephew of Super Bowl winner Billy Joe Dupree, will open for Wigan Warriors against Warrington Wolves in Las Vegas.
I think they will only rise through Hull KR and Leeds Rhinos. Yes, I think the Wigan and Warrington fans were fantastic. They were underwhelming in terms of noise.
For Super League and Warrington, the match couldn’t get any worse, but that didn’t stop the noise. Wigan fans never stopped. And of course, they were only serious about watching the game.
The fans here have a reputation for being some of the loudest in rugby league and their presence will certainly be felt once again.
2026 Super League – Key dates and things to watch out for
- Las Vegas Rugby League: Saturday February 28th: Hull KR vs Leeds Rhinos11:30 PM (sky sports)
- Super League 30th Anniversary: Thursday March 26th: Castleford Tigers v Bradford Bulls8pm (sky sports)
- Rival Round: April 3 – April 5
- Paris Super League: Saturday June 6th: Catalan Dragons v Wigan Warriors (Paris)6:30 UK (sky sports)
- Magic Weekend: July 4th – July 5th
- Rival Round Reversal: July 23rd – July 26th
- Elimination playoffs: September 19th – September 20th
- playoff semifinals: September 26 ~ September 27
- Grand Finals: October 3, Old Trafford.
sky sports We will be broadcasting live again every Super League match this season. Two matches from each round will be broadcast exclusively live, while the remaining five matches will be shown weekly on Sky Sports+.
