Hull KR CEO Paul Lakin insists the club will put its own stamp on Vegas after an impressive start on the ticket sales front.
Around 6,000 Brits are already thought to have booked their trip to Sin City next year, with Vegas fever hitting for both Rovers and Leeds Rhinos supporters already.
Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors were the catalysts last year and their presence was commended by NRL supremo Peter V’Landys, who was so impressed that maintaining a Super League presence was made a non-negotiable.
Rovers and the Rhinos are now tasked with taking things to another level and Rovers’ off-field staff are already putting plans in motion to ensure that’s the case.
“There’s an element of the uniqueness of a Hull KR matchday experience that we’d like to bring to Vegas,” Lakin said. “We’d like to sprinkle our own little bit of stardust on that week, without giving too much away. Wigan and Warrington did a brilliant job, but I think we can take it up a notch, and we’ve got brilliant fanbases, so I think the numbers will be very impressive.
“It’s too early to give specifics because we’re nine months away from the event, so we’ve got plenty of time to plan, but we’ve some ideas up our sleeve.”
One objective of the Vegas venture is to financially make it work. Participating comes with a significant financial burden. For Rovers, the fixture will be considered as one of their ‘home’ games for the season, which comes at a cost. The Robins had planned to increase season ticket prices next season but have put a stop to that given the circumstances.
But Lakin is confident they can make the numbers add up.
“It’s not a six-figure loss so we’re starting with a figure that enables us to potentially break even,” he said. “I think the key to it, and we have found that with Leeds, is a complete transparent collaborative approach. Wigan and Warrington worked really closely together, which was massively to the benefit of both clubs and to Super League. We have definitely got that collaboration with Leeds Rhinos, who have been brilliant.
“We said as the home team that to be the away team, you can’t just have a free ride on the back of us. You have to come to the table and share the losses so we can both jointly try and try and recover and Leeds were brilliant at that. They have come to the table and been really open-minded, we want to drive the income together and I think you need that. Leeds have been fantastic.”
Lakin added: “It comes back to this this point that we firmly believe it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. It is for the player, and you have to bear in mind that when you have some of the best players, they want to play in the best stadiums in the world and this is one of the biggest stadiums in the world. Some of our players were asking me about Vegas four or five months ago. A large part of our fanbase is excited and the staff are excited too. We’re on an upward trajectory and I think this is our time to strike.”