DEREK BEAUMONT has confirmed that Leigh Leopards will not play in Las Vegas in 2026 after revealing some of the issues with Sin City.
Beaumont, along with other club owners, was invited by Managing Director of RL Commercial to represent Super League in North America a fortnight ago.
With Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves taking their Super League fixture to the Allegiant Stadium as part of a quadruple header alongside two NRL fixtures and England Women’s clash with Australia’s Jillaroos, an exhibition was on show in Vegas.
However, although Beaumont admitted that he enjoyed the experience, he raised some issues with Super League’s involvement in the extravaganza.
“For me no, I thought it was great, I enjoyed it and I thought Wigan and Warrington put on a good spectacle,” Beaumont told the Leigh website.
“But I thought we came across like a poor relation. If you’re trying to grow a game and attract an American audience then that audience will have been directed towards the NRL and not Super League.
“It was as if the noise got turned up after our game. There was a flyover with fighter plans, national anthems and the music went up. There was a bit more of a party.
“There was a lack of visibility from Super League Plus or Sky. I thought there was a chance missed on having our game on. We had to find somewhere we could plug our laptop in to watch it instead of having Super League Plus out there.
“I think it would have been better inbetween the two NRL games. I understand the issue on timing.
“I also think the Women’s game was damaging to our Women’s game over here and to the players. I think it was a complete mismatch.
“I think that deflated the day and I think four games were just too many.”
Beaumont went further, explaining why Las Vegas is a good fit for the NRL, but not for Super League.
“The big thing for me is, casinos are a big part of NRL clubs and they raise a lot of money from those.
“There is an affiliation with gambling and you so you can see the links with Australians going to Vegas with it being the gambling capital of the world.
“Whereas rugby league in the UK is a family sport. Our stadiums are full of families. Las Vegas is full of casinos and venues that might be classed as ‘unsavoury’.
“It’s difficult for families to spend time there as you can’t really get together as a family. Even people who are 18 who can drink over here can’t drink over there with it being 21.
“I’m just not sure it’s a fit for us. The big overriding factor for me is, we’ve got 6,500 members and most likely 70 percent of those wouldn’t be able to go over and those that do, it would be incredibly expensive for them.
“The money spent on rugby league would be better spent on our own economy.
“We won’t be making a bid to play there. I think we can go a bit closer to home with Dublin, Amsterdam, Spain and Portugal.”
