Viva Las Vegas – Betfred Super League reflects on record-breaking weekend

Rugby League Commercial today congratulates Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves for taking the Betfred Super League to Las Vegas – with thoughts already turning to how best to maintain the momentum in 2026.

The Round Three fixture at the Allegiant Stadium gave a massive early-season boost to the Betfred Super League competition, with unprecedented media interest and record-breaking viewing and digital figures.

#SuperLeague x Las Vegas ?

LET'S GO ? pic.twitter.com/ag40EscJnw

— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) March 1, 2025

And all 12 Super League clubs have been invited to register their interest in representing the competition in Nevada next year.

Rhodri Jones, the Managing Director of RL Commercial, said:

“First and foremost, we congratulate the NRL for the Vegas concept, and for expanding the programme this year to include Betfred Super League involvement.

“That involvement was driven by Warrington Wolves and especially Wigan Warriors, who recognised the opportunity to boost the profile of their club and the sport as a whole.

“In those terms, it has been an outstanding success. Around 10,000 British fans joined the Rugby League party in Las Vegas, driving an increase in the Allegiant Stadium attendance of more than 10% from 2024.

“The outstanding coverage from our broadcast partners Sky Sports and BBC Sport also lifted the global profile of the event – and as ever, the players delivered, with Matt Peet’s Warriors offering another reminder of the qualities that secured four trophies including the World Club Challenge in 2024.

“We’ve already started thinking about how best to build on this success in 2026, inviting all the Betfred Super League clubs to consider the possibility of applying to represent our competition on the unique Las Vegas stage.

“That process will continue in the coming weeks with ourselves, Wigan and Warrington sharing our experiences, and we will also work closely with the NRL as they consider plans for 2026.”

There are already signs that the Vegas venture will deliver the same “halo effect” to British Rugby League as it did to the NRL in 2024.

Viewing figures on Sky Sports for the Wigan-Warrington clash peaked at 340,000 – the highest ever for a regular season Super League fixture, excluding one match during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The match also delivered best ever figures for a Super League match in Australia through Foxtel and Kayo Sports.

And the Wakefield Trinity versus St Helens fixture that was shown on BBC Two on Saturday afternoon also set new 2025 bests, with the peak audience more than 15% up, and the peak audience share reaching 6% - a new record for a Super League fixture on the BBC.

In total, Round 3 of the Betfred Super League had viewing figures well in excess of 1m – for the first time since the opening round of 2022.

Digitally, records tumbled as the Vegas effect drove 18.2 million impressions across the Betfred Super League channels, the second-highest for a regular season round behind only Round One of 2025 – and 9.8 million video views also set a new regular season Super League best.

That’s all built on what was already a successful start to the 30th Super League season.

Wigan Warriors attracted a record Round One attendance for their opening night fixture against Leigh Leopards, total attendances are up 15% year on year including Vegas, and digital impressions (49m), engagements (1.1m) and video views (24m) are all tracking at record levels – while the cumulative broadcast audience for the season of over 2.5m includes an increase in average match figures of 12% on the 2024 season.