Five countries, three continents: NRL exploring historic Global Round to launch 2027 season

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The NRL is plotting one of the most ambitious undertakings in Australian sports history, with plans afoot to launch the 2027 season with nine matches in different cities around the world including London, Dubai and Hong Kong.

The historic initiative is being driven by Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys, who on Friday flew to London with NRL chief executive officer Andrew Abdo to kick off a major research mission.

As part of their trip to watch the Kangaroos in the three-Test Ashes series, V’landys and Abdo will hold high-level meetings to determine the viability of the scheme, dubbed Operation Global Round, designed to expand on the success of the Las Vegas venture over the past two years.

The NRL is hoping to strike a similar deal with tourism bodies in each region to ensure a profitable outcome for the game, as has been the case with Las Vegas.

One of the options available to the NRL is the potential of almost 24 hours of non-stop rugby league action from around the world, with a focus on the United States as the potential of a 2030 North American Rugby League World Cup looms.

Sources with knowledge of the situation talking on the condition of anonymity said that Dubai, Hong Kong and London have been earmarked as the NRL’s preferred venues, while there is also a potential to play a game in France given the country’s strong rugby league pedigree.

The NRL is investigating the possibility of staging games in Las Vegas, London, Dubai and France to open the 2027 season.

The Perth Bears enter the competition in 2027, which means the NRL will need to take 18 teams (nine matches) on overseas trips.

If it gets off the ground, the Global Round concept is set to become a key bargaining chip in negotiations for the next NRL broadcast deal. The current five-year agreement expires at the end of the 2027 season and a successful inaugural Global Round, on top of the extra game per week, could push the value of the broadcast rights into uncharted territory.

The NRL’s current TV deal, brokered with Nine (the publisher of this masthead) and Foxtel in December 2021, is worth $1.8 billion over five years.

Plans are in their infancy, but one model would see the round kick off in the south of France on a Saturday night, which would be aired in Sydney from 6am. That would be followed by games out of Miami (9am), Hawaii (11am) and then the Las Vegas double-header (1pm and 3pm).

At the conclusion of the Las Vegas matches, the coverage would potentially move to Asia, with games out of Hong Kong or Singapore (5pm) and Dubai (7.30pm) before the round concludes with a double-header in London from 10pm.

That schedule would allow fans to travel to the south of France in the lead-up to the Saturday night matches before travelling to London for fixtures the following day.

In March, this masthead reported the NRL had its sights on Wembley Stadium as a potential alternative to Las Vegas when the current five-year deal expires.

However, the NRL wouldn’t have to wait until 2029 to venture into England under the new plans, with a season-opening fixture in the English capital proposed as part of a round that would also include the Las Vegas matches in 2027.

It’s part of a broader ambition of playing all nine NRL opening round fixtures in at least three different continents. The NRL hasn’t yet determined whether the concept would be best delivered in a 24-hour block or spread over a weekend.

If the NRL proceeds with its plan, Global Round would further overshadow the start of the AFL season, which has struggled to match the interest in the NRL’s Las Vegas season-opener in the past two years.

United States

The US options under consideration include Miami, Nashville and different venues in California.

The NRL has previously explored the possibility of playing a game in Los Angeles, but it is a huge financial undertaking.

The NRL is also looking to capitalise on the large Polynesian population in Hawaii, which is also a major tourist destination for Australian travellers looking to watch their team.

San Diego, where South Sydney based themselves in the lead up to their 2024 season opener in Las Vegas, provides another option. The NRL is keen to stage a game on the eastern seaboard, which is why Miami and Nashville are being considered.

Asia and the Middle East

V’landys is keen to explore Asia and the Middle East and has pinpointed Hong Kong as priority target.

The Racing NSW CEO knows the region well given the racing industry’s strong ties to Hong Kong. He is also keen to explore possibilities in Dubai and Singapore.

Europe

The NRL wants to play the match at Wembley, but other options in London include the impressive Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Emirates Stadium, the home of Arsenal FC, where England hosted Samoa at the 2022 World Cup.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Harry Grant at Wembley Stadium ahead of this weekend’s Ashes series opener.

The NRL could also work with Super League clubs to host three or four games on the day, or over the same weekend to maximise tourism.

One opportunity is to try to include the Darren Lockyer-owned London Broncos into the event. V’landys and Abdo will meet with Lockyer and his business partner, Grant Weschel, in London this weekend.

The Broncos, who have signed Jason Demetriou as coach and Reagan Campbell-Gillard as a player, missed out on the Super League in 2026 but are hoping to earn promotion into the competition the following year.

That could coincide with them playing in Global Round as part of a triple header or even a weekend-long event in London.

South of France

There is an opportunity to grow the sport in France, which was once considered a strong rugby league-playing nation.

Toulouse will next year join Catalans in the Super League, making the south of France a logical target for the NRL. The Sydney Roosters would be the ideal team to send over to France, given coach Trent Robinson’s connection to the country.

He is married to a French woman, can speak the language, coached Catalans and last week led the French national team in a training session with the Kangaroos in London.

The Stadium de Toulouse could host games in the south of France.

The NRL’s bold plans comes at a time its players are being tempted by lucrative deals being dangled by upstart rugby competition R360.

The NRL has given its players the opportunity to travel to America in recent years and believes it can continue to make itself appealing to players by expanding its global footprint.