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?

Massive potential but will sadly require massive investment that we don't have. Better to start grassroots and build slowly.

It would be very difficult. Popularity in sport generally stems from familiarity. Football, soccer, baseball are already too ingrained into the social culture over there. For rugby league to become popular it would have to become familiar. For it to be familiar it needs to have widespread participation in schools and there needs to be some sort of career path with a pro league etc.

You only have to watch state of origin to know that if the yanks were familiar with it, they'd love it.

If i was roman abramovich rich i'd chuck a few hundred million at it. I'd be saying look, theres so much competition in football, it's the best of the best, but heres a new a new, fast growing sport you could be successful in.

I think if you were able to get it played in schools with eventually a pro league set up, then within a generation, say 25 years, the US would be the dominant rugby league nation on the planet.

Have you just compared RL in the UK with the whole world of Association football? Really?
RL in the UK is small and that is just in the UK when you try and compare it with US sports it goes from small to tiny. That is hardly unachievable is it.

Wont mean much in the states with the fans that watch already the USA team is unknown to most of them to the one that played Canada a few weeks ago.

I don't think we have the resources or even the remotest of possibility to crack the US.

We should concentrate on the home nations and France.

If you're talking about impact from the World Cup, I think Italy should be the next step. Talk in the RL papers last week about a team in Northern Italy.

The nasl didn’t have a huge profile, big crowds or international stars. There was a short period of time in the mid 70’s that the league splashed out to bring some household names in to try and gain a profile but it didn’t work its best league averages were 13k. For the last few years it was a joke league that even had the US mens national side playing in it at one point. It collapsed in 1984 and the US was without a professional league for 12 years before the MLS was set up.

For a long time the US almost defined its sporting psyche in opposition to football. But the MLS now has done brilliant work. It is now, by no means a small sport or competition. That wasn’t the case 20-25 years ago. Then it was a joke. It took the catalyst of the 94 world cup for them to get their house in order and put in place a structure that could grow in to what the MLS is now.

Is RL realistically going to become the new NFL? No, probably not, certainly not in the next 50 years. Could within 10-15 years the US have a strong healthy pro game which matches the traditional big 3? Yes.
There are thousands of athletes in the US that could be stars in our game that simply will never play competitive sport again after high-school never mind college. There is a clear window in the market for a contact sport during the US summer. The fact is that even without getting to MLS levels of support and visibility, the US could have a competitive, stable, professional RL league, which could compete with the big three.

I always think that Japan would be a far better rugby league side than a union one. Fierce in the tackle, brave and skillful. Don't see it happening though.

It is pointless speculating about prospects for rugby league in the USA when the RLF dominated RLIF cannot even get the World Cup televised in the USA!

Rugby League in the USA?

For any sport to go pro there has to be money. There is relatively very little money in RL. Certainly not enough to break into the USA.

It seems we are always on the look out for someway to break through some barrier domestically or internationally.

The game in the USA is going to be grown by enthusiasts and amature set ups.
We must remember that RL as a pro sport is less than 20 years old in the UK. Players have been paid, but only as part-timers, until relatively recently.

I think a more concentrated effort in places like France and Wales will yeild better fruit in terms of increasing the competitiveness of national sides. I'm not saying abandon all other places. But there must be a focus for the majority of resources into places that can yeild results within a time frame of less than 100 years.