Out of interest, what are crowds like in the USA?

I have visions of games being played infront of 1 man and his dog.

The Axemen usually get a couple of thousand paying fans. Some of the other clubs have had four-figure crowds in the past but it usually ranges from a few hundred to just friends/relatives depending on the club. I'm not sure why you posted with a derisory tone or would expect anything else given that it's a totally amateur league.

I agree with a solid league structure, but a 1 off curtain raiser game.... will give the game massive exposer, then (hopefully)the fans will start to attend their local RL teams fixtures.

No, the NFL or nothing, 9's would be better due to the small pitch.

The only realistic link up we could ever see with the NFL would be clubs affiliated with them playing in the NFL off-season.

NFL and NFL networks are pretty candid about their wish to find a sport to fill their stadiums and schedules in the off-season. They have looked at a Pro RU comp previously but werent convinced. There is scope for the game in the US to work with them, but we need a hell of a lot of investment and growth in the game to get to that stage.

If a rich guy wanted to take a punt on the game, an IPL style short, impact season would have serious scope, big problems would be A) finding someone willing to bankroll it, and B) the NFL season overlaps with the RL offseason so there isnt really space in the calendar

In Canada, the national team consistently gets crowds over 5,000.

Why NFL or nothing? You do realise how big college football is over there don't you? The average attendance across the entire league is 46,000, with some teams routinely getting over 100,000. Michigan got 115,000 for a regular season game last year.

I can see some sort of link with NFL/College Football working in America, but I think getting people like Russel Crowe and Hugh Jackman involved with promoting the game in the states would help to draw a wider audience.

Of course he doesn't!

That shows the scale of the opportunity but also the scale of the problem. Rugby League in the US is the pimple on the boil on the butt of American Sport.

American football is 90% tedium so in theory they should be going absolutely bananas about RL. But then Canadians would say the same about ice hockey and cricket - old habits die hard!

Hahahaha. Of course I know about College football and have watched it, I have a family friend in Duke right now.

The NFL is where it's at, the money; flippin pussy footying around in College football, no, get involved in the big leagues straight away, or nothing. Think big and be bold.

I have a rather unique USA RL item that I am selling to raise funds for The Steve Prescott Foundation. See the pictures here www.flickr.com/photos/11760447@N ... 334707994/ It is the match worn shirt from Taylor Welch, the shirt he wore when they beat Wales in the world cup. Very kind of him to give it to me, so I hope it can raise some good funds for the foundation. Know anyone who would like this bit of RL memorabelia ?

I have a rather unique USA RL item that I am selling to raise funds for The Steve Prescott Foundation. See the pictures here www.flickr.com/photos/11760447@N ... 334707994/ It is the match worn shirt from Taylor Welch, the shirt he wore when they beat Wales in the world cup. Very kind of him to give it to me, so I hope it can raise some good funds for the foundation. Know anyone who would like this bit of RL memorabelia ?

Salford and Leeds played a pre season fixture in Jacksonville about 3/4 years ago at a university campus stadium and attracted a crowd of about 8,000. From what I heard the locals loved it.

A few years ago an American guy had a pretty good idea of playing an 11 a side game in highschools in American in the American football offseason.
Most highschools in America have fields for American football that are only used for half a year, but they are as much as 15 feet narrower than a rugby pitch, so 13 a side would have very compressed defensive lines, while 11 a side would have about the same spacing in defence as a normal game.
The basic idea is that literally billions of dollars worth of infrastructure site there unused, and it could be used for a modified form of League, while it isn't suitable for Union at all.

Why do people persist in posting this tripe? Why would the NFL or NCAA waste their time and resources on a sport that is a total irrelevance?