Holmes the US salesman as NRL takes over downtown Vegas
Scott Bailey |
Valentine Holmes has embraced his new-found role of rugby league’s chief American salesman, as the NRL’s downtown Las Vegas launch went into overdrive.
In what was easily the NRL’s biggest fan event of the three years in Vegas, an estimated 16,000 people descended on the city’s downtown precinct.
Newcastle winger Greg Marzhew was the star of the show performing backflips on stage, while the Knights were also best dressed with Letterman-style jackets.
Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton was sporting Meta sunglasses filming the stage, while country artist Dylan Scott also stepped on stage to perform.
Hull KR paraded the World Club Challenge trophy after beating Brisbane in England last week, as Erasure lead singer Andy Bell belted out A Little Respect to a throng of touring fans.
But it is Holmes who has become the selling point to American media, able to point to his time playing for the New York Jets in the 2019 NFL pre-season.
The 30-year-old spent parts of Thursday morning pitching rugby league to American networks, including the likes of CBS at a St George Illawarra signing session ahead of Saturday’s clash with Canterbury.
“They probably don’t understand the fathom of our game to the NFL and all that,” Holmes said.
“I’ve done a few interviews now with the US press. I embrace it.
“I’ve just had to explain it, like, NRL is almost like the NFL of, you know, back in Australia.
“We think it’s like the pinnacle of our sport in Australia.
“So it is pretty cool that they can use that and use that as a starting point anyways, and then hopefully that draws US fans.”
Holmes said being in America had taken him back to his Jets stint, where he had also acted as something of a rugby league preacher during his seven-month stay.
“Obviously everyone knows about the All Blacks, so they all thought I was playing rugby,” Holmes said of his teammates.
“They were like, ‘oh, so you played against the All Blacks and this and that’.
“And I’m like, ‘ah, it’s not really that, but that’s their way of understanding it’.
“But they eventually asked for highlights and stuff, and they put it on the screen, and they were pretty happy with what they’ve seen.”
It’s why Holmes still believes it is possible for rugby league to make an impact in the United States.
“This is just a little stepping stone for what the future can be for Australia, for rugby league, for any sport,” Holmes said.
“You’ve got to really invest in it.
“We’ve signed a five-year deal over here, so, you’ve just got to go hard with it, and then the players and clubs need to do a good job at promoting it and selling it.
“And then that’ll bring, obviously, more eyes and more people, you know, from the US, from Europe, from wherever,
“Obviously, the main difference between Australia and the US is the people … all you need is, like, half the population to follow your sport and it’s pretty much worldwide.”
AAP