Ahead of the historic opening weekend in Las Vegas, the National Rugby League (NRL) has launched its 2024 Telstra Premiership campaign.
The campaign is catering for two different markets, one for locals and one for the US, with the tagline “No pads, no helmets, no fear” being the main sell to the United States.
Locally, the focus of the campaign is the countdown to the kick-off of the 2024 season.
In the ad, narrator Gyton Grantley voices over informing fans that after 13,276,980 seconds, the off-season is finished and the “unreal” action is about to begin.
Focus on the ad then switches to a showcase of gameplay featuring all 17 NRL clubs, setting the tone for the 2024 season.
The opening weekend in Las Vegas is the first time that premiership games have been played outside of Australia or New Zealand. The Manly Sea Eagles are set to take on the Rabbitohs while the Roosters will clash with the Broncos.
To ensure the campaign resonates with fans across the game, the NRL has created regional TVC edits for NSW, ACT, North QLD, Southeast QLD, VIC and New Zealand.
The TVC is live on NRL channels and will air on Nine and Fox broadcast from Monday, February 26.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said fans are excited for the 2024 season, which is set to start one week earlier than usual, in the USA.
“This year we kick things off over two massive weekends of football,” he said.
“An extended round one begins on March 2 in Las Vegas – March 3 in Australia and New Zealand – and ends more than a week later in Brisbane.
“We have 32 weeks of exciting and enthralling Telstra Premiership football to look forward to and I cannot wait.”
The new campaign can be found here.
The start of the 2024 season comes as presenter Paul Kent is set to return to his roles as NRL360 co-host and News Corp columnist.
Kent has been a presenter on NRL 360 since the show first launched in 2013. He will return to the show alongside Braith Anasta, with his fill-in Gorden Tallis staying on the show on Monday nights.
Kent was stood down from his media roles last year after being arrested on charges of assault and choking a person without consent against his ex-partner.
In December, Seven months on from his arrest, a Sydney court found Kent not guilty of the allegations.
See also: Paul Kent back on TV, returning to NRL360 for Las Vegas opening round