The man behind securing the 2025 Rugby League World Cup for North America believes NFL interest in National Rugby League players "can be a platform for the creation of an elite-level competition" in the U.S., according to the AAP.
Moore Sports Int'l President Jason Moore, who brought Major League Baseball to the Sydney Cricket Ground in '14, said that rugby league "was a sport with a vast untapped potential in a country of more than 300 million people." Moore said that Jarryd Hayne's year-long stint with the NFL San Francisco 49ers briefly pricked U.S. interest in rugby league. Moore: "In our research, we’ve found there’s something similar about the running lines of rugby league and rugby union and the NFL backs. Catch, pass, run straight. Jarryd Hayne basically showcased all that we have been saying." Moore is hoping that one day top NRL players will consider signing for a team in the U.S. "as an alternative to the English Super League." He said, "We’ve been working on this for over 10 years. Not so much the World Cup but developing a rugby code in the U.S. American viewers … love physical, gladiatorial sports that are played at a fast pace" (AAP, 11/22).
