The British & Irish Lions are exploring the possibility of playing a money-spinning fixture in Las Vegas as part of their 2029 tour of New Zealand. Staging a match in Los Angeles or Japan are also among the possibilities but rolling the dice and taking the Lions to Vegas is the most eye-catching proposal.
Back in 2018 the Guardian reported how the Lions were keen on a fixture across the Atlantic and with the United States awarded the 2031 World Cup, momentum is growing. Crucially, the All Blacks have a growing presence in the US and are eager to continue to develop commercial opportunities. It is understood that preliminary discussions between Lions representatives and the New Zealand union have taken place.
Before next year’s tour of Australia, which begins on June 28th, the Lions will play a warm-up fixture against Argentina in Dublin while the touring side hosted Japan at Murrayfield ahead of the Covid-hit 2021 tour of South Africa. Following an agreement between the Lions and Premiership Rugby, warm-up matches have become easier to organise because players based in England are now available earlier in the summer.
In 2013 the Lions met a Barbarians side in Hong Kong and there is appetite for another stop-off fixture on the way to New Zealand, possibly against the Maori All Blacks. Vegas would add appeal for a fixture against a New Zealand side with a large Polynesian population in nearby Utah. On the west coast, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego have all been shortlisted as host venues for the 2031 World Cup. Japan is another possibility given their strategic partnership with New Zealand.
The Lions discussions come amid a number of other attempts to cash in on the US market. In rugby league, Wigan will host a Super League fixture against Warrington in Las Vegas in March 2025. England’s summer tour next year will see Steve Borthwick’s side play two Tests in Argentina before a one-off match in the United States against their national team at a yet-to-be determined venue.
Most recently, the All Blacks played Fiji in San Diego in July, having also locked horns with the USA just outside Washington DC in 2021. In 2016, the All Blacks were beaten by Ireland for the first time in their history at Soldier Field in Chicago – a fixture that is set to be repeated at the same venue next year as part of a grand slam tour for New Zealand, who will also visit Twickenham again.
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The inaugural finals of the Nations Cup are set to be held in London in 2026 before heading to the Middle East two years later and in 2030 they are expected to be staged in the US. Premiership Rugby is also exploring taking another match Stateside. No Premiership fixture has been played in the US since 2017 when just 6,000 people turned up to watch Saracens against Newcastle in Philadelphia but there are plans to return in the next three to five years and host a match in Chicago, where the league’s title sponsor Gallagher has its headquarters. Gallagher celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2027 and a match could be staged to coincide with that landmark. – Guardian
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