It’s the trip of a lifetime for any Super League club lucky to make the trip: but the costs of a Las Vegas game are seemingly eye-watering – not least when it comes to feeding the players.
Hull KR and Leeds Rhinos will follow in the footsteps of Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves by playing a league fixture at Allegiant Stadium this weekend, after last year’s history-making trip Stateside.
But the Rhinos’ managing director Rob Oates warned recently that the trip could even be a loss-making exercise for Super League clubs, though there is an understanding of the bigger picture of putting the competition on the big stage.
And that will likely be in no small part due to the food costs associated with the venture.
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Reports from Australia have revealed that the teams in Las Vegas are facing astronomical food bills in the region of $15,000 a day – just over £11,000 – if they are eating within the Resorts World complex where many of the teams are staying.
That works out at around $500 per person to have three meats a day in their designated team room. With both clubs taking bumper squads and big numbers of support staff – Leeds have 36 players and staff out there – costs will quickly ramp up.
Oates admitted on BBC Radio Leeds recently: “The trip might be a bit of a loss maker.
“My job is to make it as near to break even as possible. I told the board it would break even but looking at some of the numbers..! You can imagine though, it’s so expensive. We take a travelling party of 36, everyone flies economy but that’s not cheap.
“Food over there.. it’s mental. It’s so expensive. If the players are going out for tea and there’s 36 of them, imagine that cost times six nights. So it’s very expensive.”