LAS VEGAS — It will have been exactly 21 days since the Chiefs vanquished the 49ers in Super Bowl 2024 when Australia’s wildly-popular National Rugby League will take the very same stage at Allegiant Stadium.
The NRL will deliver a season-opening doubleheader at the same stadium the Super Bowl took place featuring the Manly Sea Eagles against the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the first match followed by the Brisbane Broncos playing the Sydney Roosters in the nightcap on Saturday.
At the center of it all in many respects will be a woman named Yvonne Sampson, who’s not a player but a broadcaster who’s as passionate about Rugby League as the many fans who follow the sport.
That’s because Sampson, who’s a presenter for Fox Sports and will be broadcasting all week from Vegas, is an unabashed fan since she was a 7-year-old growing up in Queensland
Knowing she would have a massive role in presenting a sport most Americans aren’t very familiar with as it descends upon Sin City this week, Sampson watched the Super Bowl last month with a keen eye though a very different lens than most.
Because she’ll be sitting in some of the same TV sets in Las Vegas where the U.S. broadcasters were last month as they beat the drums for the Super Bowl.
“Watching the Super Bowl and seeing Allegiant Stadium under the brightest lights sport can offer really brought the whole thing into focus and into reality for us and our humble little Rugby League to be on the same turf,’’ Sampson told The Post over the phone before leaving Australia for the U.S. “For us to be able to take our game, which really began as a bit of a working-class offshoot from Rugby Union in England and for us to bring Rugby League to America and to play for Premiership points with four of our box-office teams there with some of the biggest stars in the game … hopefully Americans will fall in love with it just as we have.’’
It’s important for Sampson to promote the game this week, because she’s so passionate about it.
“I don’t know a lot about the NFL, but I was thrilled to be able to watch the Super Bowl,’’ she said. “I once went to a Giants game at MetLife years ago and I loved the experience, the entertainment value.
“I watched the Super Bowl from a different lens and imagined our Rugby League teams running onto that same field and thought, ‘My gosh, the actual turf at Allegiant Stadium, we’re going to be standing on that same patch of grass under those same bright lights.’
“And, because of our relationship with Fox Sports in the U.S., we’re going to be using those Super Bowl sets and we’re going to be able to deliver our game of Rugby League in a very elevated way that we’ve never seen before. For the fans traveling over, there is so much excitement. Every time I step out of the house, people stop me in the streets and say, ‘We’ve bought our tickets. We’re going to Vegas.’
“They’re so excited to be able to be there at Allegiant Stadium and be part of something that none of us has ever experienced before. The Super Bowl gave us a very different way of looking at our game and it’ll be something we can cherish forever.’’
She figures people in Las Vegas will have a curiosity factor about Rugby League, asking questions like, “What’s this game all about? What are these Aussies here for? What’s this rugby thing we keep hearing about?’’
“If we can just harness some of that curiosity, I think we will have done a really god job,’’ she said.
Sampson joked that the last time she was in Las Vegas was for her “hens’ party,’’ better known here as her bachelorette party with her bridesmaids for a party weekend.
Now she looks forward to a different kind of party.
“I’m looking forward to the build-up,’’ she said. “I’m looking forward to the arrival, seeing our shows. We’ve never before had such a grand backdrop like this to set up the season. I’m looking forward to the energy.
“It’s going to be a real pinch-me moment when I walk into Allegiant Stadium. I never, ever thought in a million years we would ever have the opportunity to take the game to such an incredible stadium and stage.’’
Tickets for the NRL matches are available and can be purchased through Ticketmaster, with the prices starting as low as $19 — a far cry from the lowest face-value price of a Super Bowl ticket last month ($950).
Seats in the lower tier start from $39 and go up to $189 for club seats. Allegiant Stadium has a capacity of 65,000 and about 35,000 seats have been sold, according to reports.
This marks the first time in the NRL’s 116-year history that a season opener will be played for premiership points outside of Australia or New Zealand. The first of the two matches begins at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time and can be seen on “Watch NRL,’’ a streaming App.
The first of the two matches begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time and both can be seen on “Watch NRL,’’ a streaming App.
The best place to find the “Watch NRL” app is by searching in their preferred App Store. That’s how fans can best find it to download / subscribe.
In the US, the games also will be shown on FS1.
The ticketing link is NRL.com/Vegas and tickets are available from $19 + taxes.