CEO urges NRL to embrace US sports entertainment

MANLY Sea Eagles CEO Tony Mestrov has revealed that his club is set to revamp their game day experience and embrace an “American” approach to attending sport.

Manly are one of the four teams headed to Las Vegas to open the season and recently visited Sin City to scope training fields and facilities.

During his time in America, Mestrov said he was swept away by the match-day experience at NFL and NBA games.

Mestrov said there were several ideas the NRL could take from America to improve the experience for both casual and die-hard supporters.

“We saw the LA Rams v Seattle Seahawks, Brooklyn Nets v Washington Wizards and LA Lakers v Houston Rockets [and] I was blown away,” he said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.

“It needs to be focused more on the game day entertainment for fans because the fans regardless of result [in America] had a great day out.

“We need to tap into more of that and regardless of the result, it will bring in more revenue.

“Let’s make our stadium a fortress. We’ve seen that with Adelaide Oval when there are more people outside the ground than inside.

“Let’s create entertainment quarters like tailgate parties. The coach is all for it and it helps the footy team.

“It’s not a budgetary thing but a mindset thing and it’s about innovation.”

Manly will play the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday 3 March to officially kick off the 2024 NRL season.

– CHARLES GOODSIR/ SEN