With a longer runway to plan and prepare for the rugby league extravaganza the next time around, the NRL chief executive was soon promising to go even larger.
The NRL was quick to talk up the wins, no matter how big or small, from its first foray on to the rocky terrain of the US sporting landscape last year.
The desert dust had barely settled on the NRL’s first trip to Las Vegas before league boss Andrew Abdo was doubling down.
Twice as many matches as last year are still to come when all the off-field glitz and glamour are put to one side and the quadruple-header finally kicks off at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).
New subscriptions to the international streaming app Watch NRL soared 167% – admittedly from a low base – compared to the same period leading into the previous season.
