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Sydney Roosters spend $500k to launch rugby league team in Los Angeles

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  • Sydney Roosters spend $500k to launch rugby league team in Los Angeles

    https://www.codesports.com.au/nrl/sy...e8c434cb0eef7b

    I know you can't take it with you but I can think of better ways to spend 500 grand, uncle Nick.

  • #2
    $500k is chump change to uncle nick. My only surprise is that it didn't cost millions to setup as he'd need to hire facilities, have staff on the ground, have insurance, pay players...etc.

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    • #3

      Billionaire Roosters chairman Nick Politis is the driving force behind the club’s investment in a Roosters team out of Los Angeles, establishing an academy to target thousands of college football players.

      The Sydney Roosters are on a groundbreaking $500,000 mission to break into the United States market with their own team based out of Los Angeles from next year.

      Billionaire Roosters chairman Nick Politis is leading the charge on the back of interest created from the Las Vegas double-header in March in a revolutionary initiative he hopes will provide the first proper pathway for gridiron players into the NRL.

      Under the plan a Roosters West Coast Rugby League Academy will be established alongside a team to be known as the LA Roosters to compete in a six-team competition in California.

      “This is one of the most exciting ventures our club has ever undertaken,” Politis said.

      “We see this as an exciting long-term opportunity not just to grow and develop rugby league in America but to provide openings for tens of thousands of great athletes that don’t always make it in the NFL or college football.

      “It is a serious investment into an area where no NRL club has ever been.

      “Who knows what can be achieved in the long term. There is so much potential.

      “We are incredibly optimistic as to the opportunities that exist to unearth future rugby league talent.”

      Politis is rugby league’s greatest visionary, the first man in Australian sport way back in 1976 to become a jersey sponsor with his car company City Ford.

      He now insists this latest venture into the world’s biggest sporting market will pay off.

      The Roosters were blown away by the Las Vegas experience earlier this year and the vision of independent commission chairman Peter V’landys to create a permanent footprint in America.

      The LA Roosters will be made up of part-time players in the Pacific Coast Rugby League competition.

      Roosters CEO Joe Kelly says the long-term plan is to attract players from the college football system.

      “There are one million college football players,” Kelly said, “Of those, 10,000 participate in the combine each year, 300 go to the draft and approximately 285 get drafted.

      “This leaves thousands and thousands of extremely talented athletes that are looking for an alternative once they finish college.

      “We will become a very attractive second option. And we will be on the ground looking for them.”

      Kelly has been working alongside Politis on the plan for several months.

      Their $500,000 comes from the Roosters Foundation, the club’s fundraising arm that is dedicated towards young player development in junior academies and pathways.

      V’landys loves what the Roosters are trying to achieve.

      The Sydney Roosters will soon have a rugby league stranglehold on the west coast of the US. “Nick Politis is one of the greatest visionaries I’ve ever met,” V’landys said.

      “He thinks and sees things 10 years ahead of the rest of us.

      “It gives me enormous confidence in our U.S. strategy that he’s behind it.”

      The Roosters have the smallest junior league of all NRL clubs and have to invest heavily on other strategies to grow and develop footballers outside of the more traditional areas.

      “The Academy’s goal is to identify and develop talented youth-aged rugby league players and provide elite coaching and training programs for young men and women across the US,” Kelly said.

      “Camps will be held a number of times throughout each year with Roosters coaching staff attending these camps to support the local academy staff that have already been appointed.”

      The overall Roosters commitment is wide-ranging.

      They will also invest heavily in sponsorship as the major sponsor of the US National Elite Youth representative team participating in the European championships in Serbia in July.

      The Roosters will be the back-of-shorts partner for both the men and women USA National Hawks teams and will also be the referees sponsor for the USARL domestic competition.

      Another $50,000 will go into a development fund for other American clubs to support the growth of rugby league awareness and participation in their region.

      “Our investment will hopefully accelerate growth and provide the governing body and the players with much needed financial support to create further awareness and interest in the game,” Kelly said.

      “In turn we are confident participation numbers will grow in the US domestic market.

      “This whole thing isn’t just about finding NRL players.”

      The Roosters also see an opportunity to entice rugby union players across to league.

      “There are conservatively 1.2 million rugby players in the US. They play in winter, league plays in summer so their seasons don’t cross over,” Kelly said.

      “There is a great opportunity to work alongside rugby and see a transition of players to league in their off-season."

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      • #4
        PVL said it perfectly about Uncle Nick.
        He is one of the best visionaries he's come across. We're blessed.

        May our proud club reap what we sow.

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        • #5
          Let’s see how ‘never played league before’ Carter Gordon goes for the GC first, before pinning our hopes on finding the next JWH Stateside.

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          • #6
            Hope flights are included in our members pack next year

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            • #7
              Originally posted by A Country Member View Post
              Let’s see how ‘never played league before’ Carter Gordon goes for the GC first, before pinning our hopes on finding the next JWH Stateside.
              You ever been fishing Mr Rural?
              You don't always catch one straight away right?
              Besides, the right catch is cap free and expenses are catered for by the foundation $ coming through thanks to our illustrious leader's planning.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by theGman View Post

                You ever been fishing Mr Rural?
                You don't always catch one straight away right?
                Besides, the right catch is cap free and expenses are catered for by the foundation $ coming through thanks to our illustrious leader's planning.
                It won't necessarily be cap free. Any advantage we get will be countered by more lopsided penalty counts, more sin bins, more howlers followed by a Monday apology etc etc.

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