Copper theft cancels USA Rugby League match

LAS VEGAS, NV–The rugby league weekend in Las Vegas was also meant to highlight local and domestic rugby league. As such, Wednesday was supposed to see USA Rugby League–men’s and women’s–take on Greece in a pair of friendlies at New Silver Bowl Park which is a park setting.

However, a theft of copper led to insufficient lighting that Clark County electricians were unable to repair in a timely manner leading to the cancellation of the men’s match. The match, scheduled for 6pm Pacific time, was due to be streamed on the NRL website as well as YouTube.

Indeed, one observer felt this was a ‘very rugby league’ problem.

According to Nine Network Australia, The game was set to feature a host of lower grade players from Australia, who flew over to Vegas for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Former NRL player Daniel Vidot was also named to play for the United States after living overseas in recent years during his professional wrestling career.

Friday’s doubleheader at Silver Bowl Park will now be played in the afternoon, though no time has been listed at the time of this post. Across the street from New Silver Bowl Park is Sam Boyd Stadium which hosted Sevens Rugby throughout the 2010s as well as UNLV football, but was closed in December 2020 after UNLV moved their home games to Allegiant Stadium where Saturday’s quadruple-header will be staged.

UNLV’s contract with Allegiant Stadium effectively prohibits the university from holding events at Sam Boyd Stadium in what is essentially a no-compete clause, though the university does receive compensation of up to $3.5 million over a ten-year period from the Las Vegas Raiders.

The stadium was purchased by Clark County for $5 million, but the future of the stadium is currently up in the air.