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Message: [QUOTE="Morkel, post: 3514539, member: 8215"] [ATTACH type="full" alt="NSWRL_Digest_USA.png"]22367[/ATTACH] Welcome to the USA edition of the Rugby League digest. Once again we are extremely lucky to have had the time to speak to the great visionary that it Peter Vlandys. We get unprecenented access to his thoughts on taking the game to the USA, the efforts of his fellow NRL administrators, and why interest in the game continues to grow. We start with the most ambitious plan of the NRL era. No, we are not talking about the attempt to make Big Nelson to use his foot to play the ball, we are talking about the revelation that Rugba Leeg is heading to the bright lights of Vegas. "It's ambitious, for sure, but I don't think many people have realised the opportunity it presents. We're not taking about attracting players to the game, NFL players, even second or third string players, can earn far more than most Rugby League players. And we're not even really talking viewership and subscriptions, though any increase there will be a handy bonus", he explains. "What we are really trying to tap in to here is their betting money. It's incredible how big that market is. One hundred billion. Every year, just on the NFL. That's not an exaggeration. Even more important is that hundreds of millions of that is bet on college football. Competitions that no one would otherwise give a moment's thought about, besides talent scouts and cheerleaders. And yet here are these betting agencies raking in the cash. The money is there, more than our game has ever seen, ever even dreamed of, we just need to market ourselves as an attractive option". "How do we do that?", he asks us. "Unpredictability. The possibility that anything can happen. Horse racing only exists due to wagering, and the main reason it's so attractive is because it's high stakes, but high return. Traditionally, League games are much lower odds - it's rare that a team at 5 :1 gets the W, but the team here is doing a fantastic job to change that". "Sure, you have your multi's, or your exotics, that have the higher odds. There will always be people that flock to those sorts of markets. But we really want to put on a game where even despised outsiders can win a game, and in turn, give the punters a big payday". "So, and again I can't understate how well out team are doing with this, after bringing all these great new initiatives like 6-agains, bunker control etc, we really have a great mechanism to control games. Where a single call can turn momentum upside down and change the course of a game in an instant. Let's not forget sin-binnings too. We're seeing them every weekend now, and nothing changes a game like 13 on 12, so in terms of the unpredictability, we really are starting to hit our targets". "Let's look at the Tigers beating the Panthers", he says. "You're talking arguably the best team against the worst, and yet here we are. And when you look at the reaction to it, the public just react with "well that's Rugby League for you". You'd probably get a bigger reaction if it was someone like the Broncos beating the Panthers. It would create a much larger ripple i the standings of the comp, too. All of a sudden the Broncos are the real deal, the Panthers are on the slide. But losing to the Tigers? That is universally accepted as an anomoly. But it also shows that any team can win on the day, and more imortanty, any bet can net you the cash". Questioned on how the manipulation of the results undermines the integrity of a professional sport, Vlandys makes his position clear. "The relevant word there is "Professional". Players are paid to play, coaches are paid to coach. The game needs money to run. Now imagine we can double the revenue. Triple it. Maybe more. We'd be doing the game a dis-service if we didn't have a serious look at it". Pushed further on whether deliberate manipulation is going to push fans away, Vlandys claims the opposite. "The numbers don't support that claim at all. If people are so passionate as to say they they are walking away from the game, they are already emotionally invested, they're not going anywhere. If you want to know how invested some punters are, there are people out there betting on opposition teams, calling it "emotional insurance". Can you believe that? I say, dice that up in to cubes, blend it up, and hook it up to me as an IV drip, that is an astounding level of engagement". Pushed even further, about just what level of manipulation fans would tolerate, he praises the efforts of his fellow administrators. "Let me just say that Graham Annersley has far exceeded my expectations on what can be done with that role. He plays the part so well. When he gets in front of those cameras and deadpan tells the world that left is right, up is down black is white, I can see how people can question their sanity. I mean, apparently Xavier Coates' hand is whiter than a pasty kid of irish descent, so yeah, black is white when he talks. Even better, when you get people talking conspiracies, if you cross-reference that with betting activity, you'll see that those people are by far the most profitable for betting agencies. Because they think they know better. They think they can see patterns that others can't see, that games are going to be edged a certain way because of some weird theory they have built in their heads. Bringing it back to the horses, that's like having a hot tip from someone in the know, and we know how easily those guys get fleeced, so if anything, a distrust in the officiating is good for business". Now let's combine that with the Big Ol U S of A. A nation where people swear that elections are rigged, horse de-worrmers can cure a virus that others don't even think exists, and Elvis is still alive. If we can put ourselves in front of an audience like that, the sky's the limit". [/QUOTE]

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