Hull KR and Leeds Rhinos to meet in Las Vegas

Reigning champions Wigan Warriors beat Warrington Wolves in the inaugural Super League game in Las Vegas in February

Hull KR and Leeds Rhinos are to meet in Las Vegas next year in the second Super League game to be held in the United States.

They will face off at Allegiant Stadium, the home of NFL side Las Vegas Raiders, on 28 February.

Warrington and Wigan met in the same venue earlier this season, with the Warriors claiming a 48-24 victory.

The Super League game will kick off a triple header of rugby league games also featuring NRL sides Canterbury Bulldogs, Newcastle Knights, North Queensland Cowboys and St George Illawarra Dragons.

The Robins, who top Super League and will face Warrington in next month's Challenge Cup final, and eight-times Grand Final winners Leeds have been selected following an application process led by Rugby League Commercial.

"It was a huge statement of intent by Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves to pursue the opportunity of making history in Vegas in 2025, and it is a credit to the impact they made that we have been able to work so closely with the NRL on ensuring a continued northern hemisphere presence," Rhodri Jones, managing director of RL Commercial, said.

"Super League's first Las Vegas fixture delivered a huge spike in profile and glamour for the whole competition, as reflected in the viewing figures, and in the response from other sports and the wider sporting public."

'Confidence Robins and Rhinos won't wilt in Nevada sun' - Analysis

BBC rugby league reporter Matt Newsum:

Hot on the heels of the success of Wigan and Warrington's venture into Sin City in 2025, Hull KR and Leeds are the latest Super League entrants to make the trip over the Atlantic for the now annual Las Vegas event in tandem with the Australian NRL.

This time, RL Commercial have been more heavily involved in the process, after Warriors CEO Kris Radlinski and Warrington counterpart Karl Fitzpatrick set the ball rolling for this year's event off their own backs.

Both Hull KR and Leeds, and perhaps importantly from selling the game, brands, have a strong presence. They have shown themselves to be successful off the field of late as well as on it, and should provide the type of match-up which will show Super League in its best light.

Rovers could pitch up in Las Vegas as champions and Challenge Cup winners, and this would be another memorable experience for a fanbase that has shown itself to be loyal and high in turnout at major events in recent seasons - one of the key reasons for their inclusion.

Leeds still carry a cachet to an Australian audience from their legacy of success, their links with high-profile Australians over the years, and the fanbase again, and while some of the success from the years of annual Grand Final appearances has tailed off, there is a sense the club is now heading in the right direction.

Both clubs will take some financial hit on the trip, as did their predecessors, particularly in giving up a home game for one but the hope is there are ways of making the trip pay both tangibly and metaphorically.

The aim one day is that all clubs in the Super League will get a chance to show their wares, but right now, these two clubs need to be shrewd and provide a meaningful showpiece, and there will be confidence that neither will wilt in the glare of the Nevada sun.