In a landmark moment for the Betfred Super League and British rugby as a whole, Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves will be facing off against each other in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Yes, for the first time in history, an official Super League game will be taking place in the US as last month’s Challenge Cup finalists will see their rematch moved to the Allegiant Stadium, where NFL side Las Vegas Raiders and Rebels college-level American football teams play.
With the two local teams set to meet over the other side of the Atlantic next year, this comes as part of a fresh bid to grow a National Rugby League (NRL) audience over in the States – a drum they’ve been beating for several decades now.
The all-North West face-off will be one of four fixtures scheduled to take place in March 2025.
Boasting a 65,000 capacity, the Allegiant Stadium is roughly four times the capacity of the Wolves Halliwell Jones Stadium and more than two-and-a-half times the size of the Warriors’ home ground.
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It was also where this year’s Super Bowl was hosted.
Safe to say, if they sell well, these latest international NRL games could be huge for growing the rugby audience in the US.
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Wigan and Warrington are the first UK teams to play in America but follow in the footsteps of Aussie clubs Brisbane Broncos, Manly Sea Eagles, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters who kicked off the Las Vegas promotion earlier this year, attracting over 40,000 fans.
The New Zealand Warriors will also play against Canberra Raiders along with three-time NRL champions Penrith Panthers taking on Cronulla Sharks in the other games booked in for 2025 thus far.
That means eight NRL clubs will have played in the first two years in Vegas, following matches between Brisbane Broncos, Manly Sea Eagles, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters earlier this year.
But the historic fixtures don’t stop there as England Women will also play against the world champions, Australia Jillaroos, in another landmark moment for international rugby.
As for Wigan – who hold the record for the most competition wins, lifting their 21st Challenge Cup on 8 June with an 18-8 win at Wembley – they’re clearly relishing the challenge of playing abroad.
These games will be broadcast on Sky Sports and are obviously geared towards the American sporting audience, but would you fly as far as Las Vegas to watch a Super League game?
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
10th July 2024 
