National Rugby League side Wests Tigers "are in negotiations to take a historic pre-season trial to Hawaii" in a move that will take the club's brand to a "new global audience," according to Adrian Proszenko of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. The Tigers are in talks with the NRL and a rival club "about taking the landmark match to the 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium," home of the University of Hawaii. The NRL "is yet to approve the venture but Tigers officials hope the governing body will see the benefits" of exposing two of its clubs to a new market. Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe: "We try to take these games away for strategic reasons, not just for our commercial benefit, but for the game's benefit. ... One of our key pillars from an organizational perspective is borderless community and that's about bringing this massive brand that is Wests Tigers into a global platform in conjunction with the game." If the parties are to agree on the new venture, "which is pencilled in to take place after the Auckland Nines in February," the Tigers see it as "the first of many sojourns into a market that is home to a large Polynesian contingent." Pascoe said, "We don't do anything unless we think it has longevity" (SMH, 9/1).
