It appears that the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Manly Sea Eagles will kick off the 2024 NRL season in Las Vegas.
The NRL had already stated that the two clubs who had been campaigning for a game in the United States of America for years would meet in one of the double-headers, while the Sydney Roosters and Brisbane Broncos would compete in the other.
What had not been confirmed was the order in which they would play.
But, according to Media Week, Foxtel revealed at their recent industry up front that the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Manly Sea Eagles would open the season.
The added caveat to that is that the opening game would be “live and exclusive” on Fox League. That means Channel 9 and free to air viewers miss out, although it’s entirely likely they would then broadcast the second game, played on Sunday afternoon between the Broncos and Roosters.
It would be the first time in history the NRL have not broadcast the opening game of the season on free to air TV, although the Las Vegas experiment, which is believed to be a five-year deal that will ultimately see every club in the game make the trip to America at least once, will also be the first time in decades the season hasn’t opened on a Thursday or Friday night in prime time.
It’s anticipated that the games in Las Vegas will be played on Saturday night local time, which translates to Sunday morning and early afternoon Australian time.
The NRL have locked in the weekend of March 2-3 for the games, which will likely be the only matches played on that weekend, with the remaining six Round 1 games to be played the following weekend between March 7 and 10.
The complete NRL draw is likely by the end of November.
