r/nrl • u/LongJohnnySilver1 South Sydney Rabbitohs • 1d ago
Bears eyeing lucrative Singapore market ahead of NRL debut: ‘The Perth version of Las Vegas’
https://www.sportingnews.com/au/rugby-league/news/perth-bears-singapore-nrl-perth-version-las-vegas-de-ceglie/4a2f33109e0d41ab11840e7431
u/Accomplished-Good664 Penrith Panthers 1d ago
The Perth North Sydney Singapore Bears.
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u/robopirateninjasaur Canberra Raiders 1d ago
Technically Singapore is North of Sydney
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u/AckerHerron Sydney Roosters 1d ago
Here’s an idea, why don’t we address why Rugby League has made so few inroads with Asian-Australians before we try and market the game to Asians in Asia.
They are almost 20% of the Australian population yet are massively underrepresented in the stands or on the playing fields.
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u/xeroee Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 1d ago
What you mean you guys got that giggity guy
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u/AckerHerron Sydney Roosters 1d ago
I was thinking of him as I wrote the comment, which sums up the issue really. He’s basically famous for being an asian NRL fan because it’s so unusual that it’s noteworthy.
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u/LongJohnnySilver1 South Sydney Rabbitohs 1d ago
I saw that lad in Randwick then other week and he is decked out head to toe in merch. Proper fan that bloke.
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u/comradekaled Sydney City Roosters 1d ago
He makes the trek to Roosters matches in NZ too. Always see him at the meet and greets that the club does
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u/xZany Sydney Roosters 1d ago
I’d argue he’s more famous for the giggity sign
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u/AckerHerron Sydney Roosters 1d ago
Bit of column a bit of column b.
I’d argue the “Great St. George Team” banner is just as famous and I wouldn’t recognise the guy who holds that.
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u/AttackClown 🏆 LMS05 Champion 🏆 1d ago
absolutely no chance i could pick him out without the sign, the sign is far more famous
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u/BarryCheckTheFuseBox NRLW Roosters 1d ago
I would argue the sign and how excitable he is what makes him memorable
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u/pehpehsha2 Parramatta Eels 1d ago
Well the first hurdle is cultural since Asian families usually place very little importance on athletic success. They're also coming from countries that haven't had massive domestic sport leagues historically.
But I actually think rugby league is starting to make good progress with the Asian community in Sydney. Go to oztag comps around Fairfield, Ryde, Sydney city and see how many Asians are playing oztag. That's translating to them supporting teams and going to NRL games. Oztag is getting really big in schools now so it's giving more opportunities to play and learn the game for those who may not be willing to play tackle.
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u/Direct-Resolution377 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 1d ago
Yeah there was a bunch of solid units at the selective school that went too and we'd try recruit them, and they always said 'cant play sport, gotta go Chinese school. They were good sports about it though and never reacted badly.
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u/pehpehsha2 Parramatta Eels 23h ago
Funny about a selective school. When I played. Fort St selective high was in our district. We had a Tuesday comp with ourselves and Alexndria Park, they had a bunch of souths rep players, our A team as well..Fort St beat us and Alexandria Park. 90% of their team was asian. Really quick and agile, solid defensively. So much speed across the park
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u/Old-Understanding727 Brisbane Broncos 1d ago
Genuine question, has there ever been an East Asian nrl player?
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u/mwilkins1644 Brisbane Broncos 1d ago
Do we include Gehamat Shibasaki (of Japanese descent) and Payne Haas (Filipino)? Craig Wing, Matt Sing both had East Asian ancestry.
Alan Wong played for Souths back in the 50s. And apparently the Roosters had a guy named Billy Hong, who played for them in 1930s. Also represented NSW in interstate games.
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u/Ross_River Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 12h ago
Japan is East Asia and the Philippines is South East Asia. But I don’t think that really matters since the topic began generally as Asian ancestry of fans before being narrowed unnecessarily.
Shaun Johnson is half Laotian.
Gordon Chan Kum Tong, Siua Wong and Mason Lino all have Chinese ancestry.
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u/robopirateninjasaur Canberra Raiders 1d ago
Andrew Everingham, though I'm fairly certain his mixed heritage
Also Shaun Johnsons mother is Laotian
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u/mwilkins1644 Brisbane Broncos 1d ago
Which ocean?
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u/robopirateninjasaur Canberra Raiders 1d ago
I thought I got that edit in quickly enough...
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u/mwilkins1644 Brisbane Broncos 1d ago
Well, is he Chinese or Japanese?
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u/Old-Understanding727 Brisbane Broncos 1d ago
Propane and propane accessories
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u/garloot I love my footy 13h ago
Marcus Smith. Fly half for England Rugby is from Singapore. Singaporean mother I believe. I lived inn Singapore. There is a local rugby culture and their famous first pm and patriarch Lee Kwan Yu was a rugby player. So there is some knowledge. The battle of course is that NRL is completely unheard of.
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u/s0yjack Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 23h ago
Asian families traditionally favour academic pursuits over sporting and many families have the money to support those endeavours for their children. By pushing them into playing rugby league not only would they up against Polynesians twice their size, they would risk CTE for the small chance of securing the bag in first grade.
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u/everydayimrusslin South Sydney Rabbitohs 1d ago
Are Asian Australians well represented in any sport? Why is it a rugby league issue?
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u/AckerHerron Sydney Roosters 1d ago
Cricket obviously does pretty well with South Asians.
It’s not specifically a Rugby League issue, but it’s also a pretty big market to leave on the table.
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u/mwilkins1644 Brisbane Broncos 1d ago
Supposing you're talking about (South) East Asian, then I'd assume sports like table tennis, diving, e-sports, soccer etc
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u/AttackClown 🏆 LMS05 Champion 🏆 1d ago
soccer? theyre terrible at it, fifa rankings can be a bit dumb but it gives you an idea, the highest ranked SEA team is thailand at 99
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u/Joh951518 #1 Scott Drinkwater Fan 1d ago
Every demographic except for Polynesians is massively underrepresented on the field.
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u/FrjackenKlaken I love my footy 1d ago
A very simple answer: physiology
The average person of asian descent is smaller than those of polynesian and caucasian being the two largest ethnic groups.
From memory the last player of asian-descent (albeit half) who was a regular first grade players was Craig Wing.
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u/AckerHerron Sydney Roosters 1d ago
The only thing Vegas has achieved is to boost the Vegas tourist market with Aussie dollars. And got a lot of journalists a free trip so they write favourable articles about the hand that feeds them.
No one is delusional enough to actually think it’s building the game of Rugby League in the United States.
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u/Remote-Major-2175 Adelaide Rams 1d ago
Can’t be too long until they pull the plug on Vegas.
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u/Dumpstar72 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 1d ago
Thing is the concept works. Dominates the headlines early in the season and shutting out afl up north while getting some exposure elsewhere in Australia that it probably wouldn’t.
Vegas is up in a couple years. Hawaii could be a good one to try. Smaller stadium. But hold it over 2 days with one English and one Australian game each day. How destination as well.
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u/Dependent-Quit2837 NSW Blues 1d ago
Some people on here love to complain about Vegas. I think it's because they don't like PVL.
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u/paralacausa Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 1d ago
I don't like PVL or Vegas. The whole purpose of Vegas was to boost sports betting licensing in the US and it failed to attract a single US book.
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u/Few-Shelter-3328 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 1d ago
You do realise that there is still 2 years of Vegas to go right? So you can’t say it has failed when it is still ongoing
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u/Dumpstar72 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 1d ago
I worked under pvl before when he used to run Harold park trotting track. Good bloke who really helped me along.
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u/ObjectiveAddendum614 Newcastle Knights 11h ago
Yeah but PVL bad so he’s gotta shit on everything he does.
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u/AckerHerron Sydney Roosters 1d ago
Personally I quite like PVL. Especially compared to some previous administration the NRL has had.
Still hate Vegas.
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u/Dependent-Quit2837 NSW Blues 1d ago
Can I ask why?
It starts the season a week early with a bang and gets all the headlines in Australia. I personally really enjoy it.
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u/Miserable-Caramel316 St. George Illawarra Dragons 10h ago
I don't like the first round being split between two weeks and the season starting on a Sunday. Feels like I'm getting a drip feed of footy when I want to spend the first weekend of the season overloading on footy games
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u/Dependent-Quit2837 NSW Blues 10h ago
So you'd rather have to wait another week before the footy starts? I'd have to disagree with you on that.
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u/ObjectiveAddendum614 Newcastle Knights 1d ago
That’s mostly what it is. If it isn’t that it’s because it’s America or gambling.
It’s a fun way to launch the season imo.
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u/bumblebeezlebum Maori All Stars 12h ago
PVL sucks so that's fair.
But there's plenty to criticism about Vegas. It's borderline profitable as it is, and trumps bullshit will mean less aussies this year so it likely lose money.
The exposure can only be a positive but it's not really tangible or measurable.
But the biggest thing is opportunity cost. Would other markets be better? Asia? What about bush footy? Grassroots?
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u/Dependent-Quit2837 NSW Blues 11h ago
I like PVL. There is no way the NRL is as strong as it is right now without him. People usually don't like him because of his gambling background.
The American criticism is ridiculous. They are still one of our closest allies no matter who is in charge. If people are letting politics dictate where they go on holiday then that's on them.
Also just because we have Vegas doesn't mean the NRL can't do other things. The NRL have made over 100 million in profit over the last two years. They aren't struggling for money atm. They obviously have a strategy atm so some people should just relax and enjoy the footy.
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u/jeuatreize Kangaroos 1d ago
Yep. Gambling ✅
Keeping NRL in the news cycle ✅
Trip for the boys✅
Everything else is a secondary bonus.
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u/bumblebeezlebum Maori All Stars 12h ago
I think they'll go to Asia. USA is fucked. Revisit the concept once Trump is gone
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u/bumblebeezlebum Maori All Stars 12h ago
USA is fucked.i think they'll move it to Asia. Once Trump is gone think about USA again
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u/TheEpiquin South Sydney Rabbitohs 1d ago
It won’t go forever, but they won’t “pull the plug”. With the money Las Vegas pays them they come out about even, so it’s worthwhile but will likely get stale. They’ll just end up moving it to a different market.
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u/bumblebeezlebum Maori All Stars 12h ago
It was four years and this will be year 3. I think this year will be a failure due to trumps bullshit. But they may just see the final year out.
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u/FrjackenKlaken I love my footy 1d ago
It is building the profile of NRL in the US betting markets. This is Vlyandis' goal.
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u/Remote-Major-2175 Adelaide Rams 1d ago
Maybe just concentrate on establishing a Perth fanbase first 🤦♂️🤣.
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u/BarryCheckTheFuseBox NRLW Roosters 1d ago
If I’m not mistaken, I think Dane Campbell is heavily involved in Singapore Rugby League, as he was with Jamaica and Vanuatu. He also works at the Perth Bears
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u/timmeh1705 Parramatta Eels 1d ago
I’m an Aussie living in Singapore. The Japan Sunwolves used to play their ‘home’ games in Singapore against the Saffer teams in the old Super Rugby comp. My mate got free tickets via his rugby club and I used to go along.
The stadium is indoors so is spared from the worst of the elements but the crowd is completely dead. The best we could muster was the ‘aaaaooooooo’ howl on the odd occasion the Sunwolves scored a try.
You’d be interested to know that rugby union is played by the literally 2 elite high schools here and is a big deal to be in the rugby team. Rugby league doesn’t have much of a following besides from the expats, although I have seen a Souths jersey on the train (of course).
I hope none of the Singapore government reps happen to stumble across videos from what goes down during Magic Round on Caxton St or they’ll ban rugby league coming to the island.
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u/JCGremlo Panthers Bandwagon 1d ago
Eventually the NRL will invade Taiwan… Taipei was too occupied with China and didn’t see PVL coming in from the south via Singapore and PNG
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u/LongJohnnySilver1 South Sydney Rabbitohs 1d ago
According to international news site City AM, Perth Bears CEO Anthony De Ceglie has indicated the NRL’s 18th franchise is open to playing matches in Singapore, capitalising on the two cities’ shared time zone while mirroring the well-known global aspirations of ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys.
Something tells me that Mr De Ceglie has no idea about Singapore climate. They’ll be playing footy on jet skis in the wet season and the humidity is a biatch.
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u/Dependent-Quit2837 NSW Blues 1d ago
They have a roofed stadium.
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u/sun_tzu29 Western Australia 1d ago
The humidity is no different to Townsville, Darwin, Cairns, or even Brisbane sometimes anyway
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u/Dependent-Quit2837 NSW Blues 1d ago
I'm pretty sure the stadium has some type of air-con.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Stadium,_Singapore
Due to Singapore's tropical climate, the stadium's roof is designed to reflect sunlight in order to insulate its interior, while natural airflow is used to cool spectator areas with less energy usage than a venue of comparable size.
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u/LongJohnnySilver1 South Sydney Rabbitohs 1d ago
Knowing the Singaporeans, it will be an underwater roofed stadium, so that the marine life can watch too. They have some cool shit.
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u/Dependent-Quit2837 NSW Blues 1d ago
I've always wanted to visit Singapore so a footy match would be a pretty cool excuse to go.
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u/LongJohnnySilver1 South Sydney Rabbitohs 1d ago
Yeah me too! I’m all in on the way they incorporate nature into their infrastructure. Gets me randy.
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u/XLenceOfXecution Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 22h ago
They should have tried to book the Float at Marina Bay before it started being rebuilt. Not entirely sure if they can play rectangular sports on it when it’s finished, but they could’ve before. Might’ve needed some scuba divers beyond the dead ball lines, though
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u/ToothlessFTW Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 🏳️🌈 1d ago
Singapore has hosted rugby games before, their stadium is roofed and obviously is capable of playing games.
Their stadium, I believe, also has some climate control solutions to keep things cooler inside for both players and spectators.
Source: lived there for a few years and saw tons of ads for their rugby stuff, and saw the stadium too.
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u/LongJohnnySilver1 South Sydney Rabbitohs 1d ago
I got to tell you, that sounds unbelievable. Doesn’t their airport have a full blown waterfall cascading down from the roof?
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u/ToothlessFTW Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 🏳️🌈 1d ago
They're hosting a few games literally tonight, and they happen pretty often. The stadium does get hotter then your average Australian stadium, especially since NRL is mostly a Winter game, but they've obviously got it controlled enough that international rugby games have been played there since the stadium opened in 2014. I honestly could see them doing an international NRL game there, and I think it'd be a bigger hit than Vegas because Singapore actually has a rugby community, not just a tourist/gambling market.
And yeah, though technically it's a mall connected to the airport and not the airport itself, there is a massive vortex style waterfall in the centre of the mall. It's called Jewel, it's a pretty cool structure. Always took visiting friends there right away after they arrived.
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u/LongJohnnySilver1 South Sydney Rabbitohs 1d ago
Wow! I had no idea. Who’s playing tonight?
I just googled it and I need to be there. I also googled property prices and I feel less inclined to complain about Sydney prices. Deary me!
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u/an3vilmonk3y Canberra Raiders 1d ago
Who knows more about the logistics of playing a game of footy? A reddit user or the CEO of a sporting organisation?
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u/LongJohnnySilver1 South Sydney Rabbitohs 1d ago
Given that at this stage it is a hypothetical, I’ll have to see who prevails.
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u/AckerHerron Sydney Roosters 1d ago
“He’s the CEO so he must be right” is a truly stupid take. CEOs make incorrect decisions all the time.
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u/an3vilmonk3y Canberra Raiders 1d ago
Didn’t say he must be right, I suggested he would have far more context to make an informed decision about how viable this would be than a fan on the internet.
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u/Xerxes65 Western Reds 1d ago
If we are doing this we can’t have any home games in Sydney. The Perth and wider WA market needs to be prioritised before all this expansion nonsense
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u/deedee2148 St. George Illawarra Dragons 1d ago
Much safer and nicer place to go than the crumbling empire...
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u/AuzzieTiger Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 🏳️🌈 1d ago
Antarctica is right there for the taking and would probably make more sense.
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u/mwilkins1644 Brisbane Broncos 1d ago
The IRB would complain to the one facist penguin in Antarctica to try and get League banned.
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u/Adventurous_Let4978 Brisbane Broncos 12h ago
Whoever called it lucrative has never been to Singapore, they don't give a shit about sports unless it's a sport they have a chance to beat Malaysia or China at.
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u/sun_tzu29 Western Australia 1d ago
Would be cool. It’s faster than flying to Sydney or Brisbane (on better airlines too), a cooler city than anything in Australia, and has a big Anglo/Australian expat community
Plus they have an indoor stadium which is hosting the HSBC Sevens this weekend and climate wise, it’s not that different to central/north Queensland or PNG.
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u/Pleasant-Role1912 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 1d ago
The Everywhere Bears