American sports expert hits the NRL with bizarre comparison in sign footy still has work to do to win over US audience

A US sports expert has compared the NRL to ‘human cockfighting’ after football hit the American public for the first time on Sunday.

The historic double header at Allegiant Stadium gave American sports fans a glimpse into rugby league, with the Sydney Roosters, Brisbane Broncos, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Manly Sea Eagles in Las Vegas.

NRL chiefs are excited that the US experiment could inject ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’ into the game, with Peter V’landys seeing the move as a five-year project.

And judging by the reactions on social media, reactions to the rugby league on Sunday were mixed.

‘Yes, this #NRLVegas is hIt’s fun to watch,” said one fan. ‘Australia It’s wild. Almost anything that moves there can kill you, including rugby.

An American sports writer labeled the sport as ‘human cockfighting’ in a live blog

‘It’s cruel. I’m all in though! One team scored, and I have no idea about the rules, but let’s go.”

Others were more skeptical.

‘Watching the new rugby league in the US being played on FS1. I really like rugby, but I don’t watch it. I’ve been playing for a year and I still don’t really understand the rules. It’s an absolutely brutal sport to play and to watch.”

It may also take some time for the US media to get involved, as one fan pointed out that none of the Vegas publications had discussed the NRL during the first 25 minutes of the Manly game.

But American sportswriter David Lengel provided the most intriguing assessment.

“Okay, I’m told the game today is Souths v Manly, but from the pitch markings I saw earlier it looks like KFC are the home team as their logo is in both end zones,” he wrote on The Guardian’s live blog from the action.

There were mixed reactions to the new sport on social media on Sunday

‘Which team is KFC? Assuming it’s the Bald Eagles, because they’re the closest to chickens. I also learned that distances are stated in meters and not yards, so we already have a problem. Fortunately, I have an app that can help with this.’

He was also blown away by the physicality of the sport.

“ANOTHER player is bleeding,” he wrote after Manly’s Lachlan Croker suffered a cut.

‘Is this normal? Croker Lachlan is really confused. This looks like human cockfighting. But they keep playing! Jesus.’

The Manly game was also moved from Fox Sports 1 to Fox Sports 2 as a college basketball match went over schedule, with the US broadcaster calling the NRL ‘Major League Rugby’.