Rugby League: Salford in talks about playing Super League match in New Jersey

Salford are in discussions with the consortium behind the bid to introduce a New Jersey-based side into the Rugby Football League about playing a home game in the US this year.

“We’ve been in talks about this since November and we’re still talking because we really want this to happen,” Ian Blease, the Salford chief executive, said of now failed plans to move their Good Friday fixture with Catalans Dragons to a June date at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey. “The international window was the plan, and it was a big tick in the box when it came to exposing rugby league in a huge new area like New York. We’d negotiated that our season ticket holders would have been covered for the game, too.

“Hopefully, if it happens further down the line we can revisit that. Catalans were on board with us, and the game had a real international appeal to it with them being involved, but we’re going to try and carry on regardless and get another game over there.”

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The deal had been agreed in principle between all parties about hosting the game on the same weekend England play New Zealand in Denver, but that plan collapsed after opposition from rival Super League clubs and the RFL.

The New York consortium are still waiting for a verdict on their application to join the professional ranks next year, meanwhile, but the man in charge of the bid, Ricky Wilby, is hopeful both they and other prospective north American sides can emulate the success of Toronto and be accepted.

“We’ve also been talking closely with the people who are involved in the bid in Boston and we genuinely think there is a potential for us to work in partnership with them, Toronto and possibly one further team to bring these teams into the RFL structure,” Wilby said.

“We have always said that we do not want to take the place of teams that are already in the structure, but to come in alongside them and to add value in terms of television revenue and sponsorship. It’s nice to talk with the team involved in the Boston bid who share a similar vision.”

Blease also revealed that a purported “competitive advantage” was behind the reasoning for the Catalans game not being switched. It would have meant both sides would have played just once over the traditional Easter period, when Super League clubs play twice in four days.

“We have had the knockback from the RFL regarding some form of competitive advantage – that was why,” Blease added. “The integrity of the game was mentioned, which is not something both sides set out to compromise. It was about promoting the sport in one of the biggest cities in the world, with our brand being splattered all across that particular area.

“We’ve done some work with Ricky and his team on the PR side of things, and they had some well-known superstars planned, were going to do a concert, and it was going to be a real marquee event. Several clubs and the RFL gave us the knockback, though – but it isn’t over.”

With plans still on the table for a Super League game in the US this summer, Wilby remains optimistic the New York franchise will learn its fate in the coming weeks – with likely mayoral support further strengthening its claim for a place in the RFL. “We’re hoping that with taking a game to the city, and the mayoral support we’re working on, that those sponsors we have been speaking with will also document their interest in the team to enhance our bid.”