Super League in Las Vegas notebook: Fremont street takeover - featuring personality, flair, and Erasure performance!

Las Vegas is known for doing things bigger- extra large portions, extra large hotels, extra large casinos. Now, it was rugby league's turn to take control of Fremont Street on an extra large scale.

Prior to travelling to Las Vegas for this week, it was said to me over and over that the Fremont Street event on Thursday night would be a highlight of the trip as each of the six teams walked down the red carpet and took to the stage to have their moment.

I did not expect 16,000 fans in attendance, NRL stars doing the 'Dougie' (a popular hip-hop dance originating from Texas), and a performance from Erasure front man Andy Bell.

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Super League is known for its lively crowds and Fremont Street was once again a sea of Hull KR and Leeds Rhinos fans with some NRL fans dispersed in between.

They made it theirs. As Sky Sports Rugby League's Barrie McDermott said on stage: "We don't come to take part we come to take over."

We did.

With the Super League clash being the opening game on Saturday, they were the first two teams to process through the swathes of fans up onto the stage.

Leeds Rhinos kicked things off wearing American style bomber jackets in their Leeds colours, skipper Ash Handley taking the mic to commend the fans, commenting on how all the NRL captains had been talking yesterday about how great they are. They had made their mark.

Handley is usually a pretty unassuming character. He was bold, confident, and clearly enjoying himself up on the big stage.

Ryan Hall was then next up. He is beloved by the Rhinos and Robins having played for them both and got a big cheer when he came out. Of course, he then gave a delightful rendition of Leeds' anthem 'Marching on Together'.

As the Rhinos went off to sign autographs and get photos with fans, the world champs then arrived.

Erasure's 'A Little Respect' was followed by 'We are Hull Kingston Rovers' as the team took a lengthy procession down the red carpet, their fans stopping every single one of them- particularly captain Elliot Minchella who was carrying the World Club Challenge trophy.

Personalities were on show for the Robins too. They also had their red bomber jackets on with some players taking their opportunity to add their own style - Joe Burgess opted for a very large gold chain and sunglasses.

As they all had a boogie and head coach Willie Peters and star man Mikey Lewis had a chat, the microphone was turned over to Minchella who said they had brought along their '19th man'. That was Bell who then wowed the crowd with a live performance of his hit song.

A Super League team had brought over their star performer.

Bell has often said he cannot believe that their song has been embraced by a rugby league club and I am sure that was on his mind once again as 16,000 fans, plus the players on stage, sang along.

It felt like a moment in which Super League was truly, completely being showcased in the way that it always should be. The team with all four trophies were stood being adored by the whole sport as they took in their moment.

The NRL then took over with each of their teams having dance battles, team songs, some questionable moves, and their moment in the spotlight.

Indeed, there was even a backflip.

The players were the celebrities, they were the VIPs, they had all the eyes of Las Vegas upon them.

For a sport in this country which battles to be seen, they were not just visible, they were consuming the whole space.

Super League was extra large.

2026 Super League - key dates and what to look out for

• Rugby League in Las Vegas: Sat Feb 28: Hull KR vs Leeds Rhinos, 11pm (Sky Sports)
• Super League's 30th birthday: Thu Mar 26: Castleford Tigers vs Bradford Bulls, 8pm (Sky Sports)
• Rivals Round: April 3-April 5
• Super League in Paris: Sat Jun 6: Catalans Dragons vs Wigan Warriors (Paris), 6:30 UK (Sky Sports)
• Magic Weekend: July 4-July 5
• Rivals Round reversed: July 23-July 26
• Elimination Play-offs: September 19-September 20
• Play-off semi-finals: September 26-September 27
• Grand Final: October 3, Old Trafford.

Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season - including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining five matches each week shown on Sky Sports+

(c) Sky Sports 2026: Super League in Las Vegas notebook: Fremont street takeover - featuring personality, flair, and Erasure performance!