Will the tomahawks making the quarters help gain real interest in the states.
The impression I get is that the yanks love collision sports and as of yet there seems to not be a lot of media attention over the pond.

It's a strange one but if it takes off over there we (England/UK) could in the long term find ourselves 4th best in the world as the US have a similar attitude to the Aus/NZ. Don't get me wrong RL in the US is small but them making the quarters in their first ever WC would be great.

I will also ask the questing that seeing as there are rumours that South Africa are looking at hosting is it worth trying to get it in the US as they have at least got teams over there.

There's no chance of EITHER of the Rugby Codes getting anything other than niche sports status in the USA in my lifetime and I suspect that of my unborn great great grandchildren.

Leaving aside the poisonous relationship that festers across the TWO governing bodies or the self serving attitude of a certain head of one of these factions, Soccer, which benefited from not only USA 94 but also a massive....and I mean MASSIVE Hispanic soccer following population is still a minor distraction......and as far as the other lot are concerned, they are faced with the problem of transferring college interest and the Olympic 7's into a tangible reason to set up a competition there.

Much better to let the IRB gamble their Millions, because as a sport, we don't have the development funds to compete.

There is not a lot of media interest in the USA because the RLIF sold the media distribution rights to IMG, and failed to specify in the contract that there should be a sale of rights in the USA.

So nobody in the USA other than a dozen die hard Aussie, Kiwi and British expats, who have found out about and purchased access to Premier Sports internet stream, knows that the RLWC is on.

Its is a huge screw up and lost opportunity. The only way it can be ameliorated is if Nigel Wood contacts IMG and [ibegs[/i them to find a sale in the USA ASAP, to get attention in the last round of the pool before the inevitable annihilation of USA by Australia in the QF.

I do not understand why there was no sale to FoxSoccerPlus, which in 2013 had shown two NRL games and two Super League games each weekend, plus State of Origin.

In the midst of the great interest in and success of the tournament in England, and to a lesser extent in France, the RLIF --- whose Chairman is Nigel Wood -- has failed to take the opportunity to promote RL development in the world's biggest and richest sporting market.

there must be a chance after all this society created a monster out of professional wrestling and (to a lesser extent) lingere football.

Still... if you think it's not worth trying then we obviously shouldn't. Its only a country of 600 million people... clearly none of tHem would be interested!

It won't make a huge difference for a number of reasons. Firstly because political problems within the sport there mean that a lot of people aren't happy and don't feel any affiliation to the team, and so it isn't even really making an impact in RL circles. And also because as a whole, Americans aren't generally that interested in international sport. The USA is a pretty big place and a team performing well at a WC isn't going to make headline news there like it might elsewhere. It's a nice curiosity but isn't the sort of thing that's going to help develop the sport there, the key in the USA is increasing participation numbers and domestic penetration.

The team doing well can't hurt but there are far more important things for the development of the sport in the USA than the performance of the team at the WC.

This is my point.
It wouldn't be hard for the US as a country to overtake RL in the UK, It really wouldn't as much as it's hard to admit.
RL being stuck with AUS, NZ winning all the time with the UK in a distant 3rd helps nobody.

The RLIF really need to sit down and work this out because IMHO the US is THE country I would be breaking my neck to try and get a foothold in.

You clearly know far more than me.
I would ask would you say holding a WC in the US is a none starter ATM?

2 questions, just for you two above.

1. Investment to develop this campaign to gather hearts and minds to RL across the states would come from where?
2. If it wouldn't be hard for USA RL to overtake UK RL......explain how there soccer team hasn't taken over the world?


....USA 94 saw the biggest game on the planet come to town. Nobody....and I mean ing NOBODY as in Americans knew it was on. MLS is now a niche sport that is bankrolled by enthusiasts of soccer and "child friendly" brands looking to attract "soccer mom" dollars and has an average attendance of about 18,000 a game.

Oh, Old Blighty......I proffered my opinion that if the wealthier and more popular code wanted to waste millions on the USA then we should let them......back home in the UK there are 3 profit making clubs in 14 with maybe 3 more out of 16 in Australia....before you sail your 6 tackle armada across the Atlantic, could I suggest you sort out the stuff we've already got

I think the USA is a dream for RL for far, far into the future. I would concentrate on building Wales and France into properly competitive nations first

Right now it would be because of the lack of organization in the game there. But it isn't an unfeasible idea long-term. The 1994 football WC is by far the highest attended in history, there's no reason that a RLWC couldn't at least match what we're achieving right now attendance-wise. Like anywhere else, it would need to be done properly by a dedicated and competent team. The current people involved with RL in the USA certainly wouldn't come close to being adequate, and I don't have any faith in the RLIF either. But if a third party could be enlisted that would ensure that things would be done right then it could definitely be a huge success. It would just need money, long-term planning and joined-up thinking, which sadly we don't seem to have too much of in RL.

South Africa have teams as well BTW in response to your OP, they have probably one of the strongest competitions outside of the traditional nations.

Not true at all, and I'll rework a post I made not long ago. Despite no professional league in 1994, football still had plenty of followers in the US. "Soccer" has always been played in schools and on parks across the US, and more importantly, colleges - there was a base to build from and certainly plenty of interest. The biggest European clubs were well known long before 1994. Further, the NASL ran from 1968 to 1984 with a huge profile, big crowds and international stars of the game, and women's soccer has always been big, not to mention the huge South American immigrant population crazy for football.

Hundreds of thousands of travelling fans helped, but don't believe the TV articles interviewing clueless Americans. The vast majority of Americans interested in sport knew the World Cup was taking place in their country.

And the MLS average attendance of 18,807 is in fact the 3rd highest average major sporting attendance in the US after NFL and MLB, ahead of NHL and NBA, and the 8th highest average football attendance in the world. Attendances that Super League would kill for. Not bad, all things considered. It's not a niche sport however you try to spin it - at least no more than most other sports.

The USA would be a mighty hard nut for RL to crack, that's for sure. But it's the sort of sport many Americans would love - a relentless, tough and uncompromising game. The RL bodies in the USA need to unify and work together asap and I have no doubt the sort of healthy organic growth we've seen would increase. The teams playing there at the moment are doing a great job.

The US is a country with unlimited potential for Rugby League.
They still account for over a quarter of the world's economy.
They have literally millions of expats from the UK, Australia, NZ, France and the Pacific Island countries.
It is a huge market where we would be doing fine if we got a tiny foothold.

The odd thing is that we have done pretty much nothing to encourage them over the last 14 years. They started up a comp in 1999, and the only thing we have done for them since they started was send a Kangaroo side there once and help them out a little bit to play in this World Cup. All the internationals they have played over the years have been funded out of the pocket of guys like David Nui and Robert Ballachandran, and the players paying their own way for tours.
The only team I know of that regularly tours the US is NZ Police, and of course Canada and Jamacia in the last few years - partly subsidised by the US. The Irish sent a few teams over in the early 2000s, and a New Zealand B team featuring FuiFui Moimoi (before he played NRL) toured once I think.

They are growing steadily, but it's no thanks to us.

One thing that may come out of this World Cup is the Tomahawks may now be able to attract touring sides and have enough credibility to attract a crowd. There is also a chance they may play in the next Pacific Cup or even host it in Hawaii. At this point it's even possible that USA could be the top ranked side in a Pacific cup if results keep going the way they are.

ahead of indoor sports you say 300,000,000 people would make it the 3rd most populous country, made up of largely immigrants from Europe or South America where soccer is popular and yet only 8th?

As for USA 94, I was there and the GENERAL POPULATION had not the foggiest what was going on. Going through the port authority to Giants most locals looked totally bemused by the throng of colourful, noisy (in unison) and slightly tipsy fans in either GW&G or Italian Blue.....


...as for EITHER code of Rugby. It has taken the USA Eagles and the Canadians god only knows how many years to get to the stage where they get the occasional 20k gate.....the RUWC Final in 2011 was apparently watched by 800,000 in North America and even now with government assistance for their 7's programmes, I can't see them making any real progress over the next 20 years, so even if the 2 factions in USA were to bury the hatchet, I still so no reason for the RLIF to invest funds that they don't really have in a market that is still untried and untested when it comes to league.

I would encourage "sponsored" pre-season tours by SL/NRL teams to regions where RL has a team and see what response they get.....

Are they still split domestically?