As the NRL explores additional choices for enlargement, Australian Rugby League Commission Chairman Peter V’landys has flagged a daring plan that includes capitalising on “wasted” expertise abroad.
Speaking on Triple M’s ‘Sunday Sin Bin’, V’landys opened up on his want to create pathways for school soccer gamers who don’t make it to the NFL to play rugby league.
The ARLC Chairman mentioned that ambition is a part of a broader realisation that the sport must discover “new markets” and alternative ways to generate curiosity and development.
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“There’s a market in America for NFL players to come here,” V’landys mentioned.
“The model is basketball. Anyone who doesn’t make basketball in America comes to Australia. Then there’s the pathway then between the two countries.
“Where do all the NFL players go that don’t make it to the NFL? Where do all the college players go?
“You only need to get a dozen or two dozen to come over and there’d be enormous interest in America for our game.
“America is a big market for us and that’s one thing that came loud and clear to me when I saw the broadcasters in America was how small a country Australia is. You’ve got to look at new markets and America is potentially a new market for us.”
V’landys mentioned he “absolutely” has plans to develop some form of improvement arm in America that can assist construct a reliable pathway for school soccer gamers to return down underneath.
“You’ve got to look at the big markets, you’ve got to look outside,” he added.
“As I said you’ve got to have ambition, you’ve got to look at where the growth can come from. One lesson I learnt talking to all the major broadcasters like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Twitter is that Australia in the scheme of things is a pimple. It’s too small.
“They want big markets so you need to grow your market and if America is one of those places you should be going there sooner rather than later.”
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It got here after former NRL participant Gorden Tallis floated an analogous concept earlier in this system.
“The most wasted talent in sport, is America,” he mentioned.
“If you don’t play in the NFL, there are thousands that sit there. There are 20-year-old and 18-year-old kids… if we really want to really grow the game and market, why aren’t we looking over there?”
Source web site: www.foxsports.com.au
