They’re still a year away from playing their first NRL match—but the Perth Bears are already thinking far beyond their Western Australian backyard.
According to international news site City AM, Perth Bears CEO Anthony De Ceglie has indicated the NRL’s 18th franchise is open to playing matches in Singapore, capitalising on the two cities’ shared time zone while mirroring the well-known global aspirations of ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys.
“We are in a very different time zone to Sydney and Melbourne, we are in the economic Asian powerhouse time zone and that’s really handy for us,” De Ceglie said.
“I’d love to take the NRL to Singapore, it could be the Perth version of Las Vegas.”
MORE: ‘We’re well ahead’: Mal Meninga delivers bullish update on Perth Bears road to the NRL
‘It’s a pretty easy selling point’ says De Ceglie
De Ceglie said the opportunities in Asia were significant for the Bears and expressed confidence the NRL would back any innovations that helped grow rugby league in the region.
“There’s so many opportunities, not just into the east coast market because it means we can play that late game, but also taking the game into Asia could be huge,” he said.
“We’re the most watched sporting code in Australia and we have a monopoly on it in Western Australia—it’s a pretty easy selling point, but we’re capitalising on the growth of the game.”
For its part the Singapore National Rugby League has welcomed the Bears’ vision of bringing NRL games into Singapore.
The city-state was already looking to attract major rugby league events such as the World Club Challenge and potentially matches in the proposed ‘NRL Global Round’.
Singapore is a four-hour flight from Perth.