Super League returns to Las Vegas: Get ready for Freemont festival, surprise Allegiant, and Hull KR and Leeds Rhinos take things to the top | Rugby League News

Ahead of Hull KR vs Leeds Rhinos in Las Vegas, Sky Sports Rugby League’s Brian Carney recounts his memories of the showpiece event and takes us behind the scenes of rugby league’s most spectacular…

Rugby League stands tall in the big city

As you can imagine, and this will be the case for Hull KR and Leeds fans this year – and it was for Wigan and Warrington fans last year – the excitement starts to build months before the week in Vegas.

Especially with the start we had last year with Michael Buffer coming to the Wigan vs Leigh game, launching the season and filming the commercial in Vegas, there was a lot of buzz about it.

For me, and I think for the people I met at Manchester Airport, you see all these rugby league jerseys packed together to fly transatlantic to watch rugby league and you just lose their enthusiasm.

Some of them were heading to New York for a few days before they left for Vegas but I’m talking about the flood of jerseys at Manchester airport that caught me by surprise in one sense but that eagerness dialed down a bit.

Arriving in Vegas we immediately started filming and shooting. It’s a very busy city with lots of distractions, bright lights, and all that, but rugby league jerseys stand out.

We went to the famous Las Vegas sign on the first day, and there was a flood of Super League and NRL jerseys.

It is not lost in that big city. That’s what really stood out to me.

There was a lot going on but rugby league had a place at the top table in Las Vegas.

Behind the scenes: Freemont street festival vibes

At the beginning of the week, the teams have arrived and just adjusted themselves to the time difference and moved on to a small training session.

They will also know that it really goes up from Thursday onwards.

They all stayed at the Resorts World Hotel, which will also show you the size of the hotels in Las Vegas, where eight groups stayed last year. That includes all the staff, all the club officials, all the governing body officials from the NRL and Super League, all of them.

Not only that, there are also thousands of guests in the same hotel.

At Wednesday’s fan event, each team was introduced one by one at Resorts World. They have a place to work and there is an hour slot assigned to each side. So, their followers gathered there, and they were introduced.

Then, come onto Freemont Street on Thursday. That is something special.

Freemont Street is the old part of Vegas – the players all live in what we call the New Vegas Strip and Old Town Vegas is Fremont Street.

You go there and it starts to build in the afternoon, the number of jerseys increases little by little.

Around six o’clock, everyone rushes there to get the best viewing spot, with a passageway created from the crowd and the stage.

Taking in all of Fremont Street is another. It’s like a busy road, but it’s turned into a rugby league game.

The performers are announced on stage and the sound is deafening for each person.

There was a lot of noise even from the fans or many opposition fans who are not from the team being promoted on the stage because they are all rugby league fans and they are very happy when they see the players in such an event.

The atmosphere is tumultuous. There is music, there is a DJ, there is a master of ceremonies who keeps the crowd going and sorting them out for a few hours. That’s a really big night.

It’s almost game day: Awe at Allegiant Stadium

Then it’s walking day on Friday, team run day. They all go out onto the field at Allegiant Stadium, which is unbelievable, this beautiful indoor venue.

You just see the faces of the players when they come out, and remember, these guys have played in a lot of big arenas.

What you notice though is that every little detail counts. Last year when Wigan or Warrington or Cronulla came out on the field and ran their team, all the markings on the field changed to their team. It’s a small detail, but it makes everything look so professional and polished.

All the players just played American football games. I remember last year the Warriors, in particular, were fun to watch as they had a competitive game.

Going into match day, we were filming early in the morning and there were crowds of rugby league fans.

We bumped into Cumbrians, people from the south of England in rugby league shirts and everyone was just buzzing.

Rugby League has its moment in the sun | Time to step up a gear!

It makes you feel like a rugby league fan that your game is on top of the world. We don’t get enough of this time and, in Las Vegas, rugby league feels really high.

It’s one of those rare times when I think rugby league is where I always want it to be.

In many ways, this is what we need to aspire to try and achieve on a regular basis. It was polished since I left It was well attended, loud, with people who had flown long distances and at great expense to enjoy the event.

I think it will only go up a gear with Hull KR and Leeds Rhinos. Yes, I think the Wigan and Warrington fans were fantastic – they dominated with noise.

The game couldn’t have been worse in the Super League and Warrington, but that didn’t stop the noise. Wigan fans never let up. And, of course, they only went on watching the games.

In rugby league circles, the fans here have a reputation for being the loudest and, once again, will make their presence felt.

2026 Super League – key dates and what to look out for

• Rugby League in Las Vegas: Saturday 28 Feb: Hull KR vs Leeds Rhinos11.30pm (Sky Sports)
• Super League’s 30th birthday: Thursday Mar 26: Castleford Tigers vs Bradford Bulls8 pm (Sky Sports)
• Round of Rivals: April 3-April 5
• Super League in Paris: Saturday June 6: Catalans Dragons vs Wigan Warriors (Paris)6:30 UK (Sky Sports)
• Magical Weekend: July 4-July 5
• Rivals Round postponed: July 23-July 26
• To finish playing games: September 19-September 20
• It’s a semi-final: September 26-September 27
• Grand Final: October 3, Old Trafford.

Sky Sports will also show every Super League game live this season – including two games from each round live exclusively, with the remaining five games each week shown on Sky Sports+