Rugby league has returned to Las Vegas in its continuing mission to convert Americans to football without pads, drawing 50,000 fans to Allegiant stadium.

Las Vegas, a city built around extravagance and opulence, with the blinking bright lights of giant electric billboards, garish neon signs and enormous flashing video screens, feels about as far away from the traditional northern England rugby league heartlands as its possible to get.

Four games of rugby league, traditionally played in the north of England and Australia, will be played in Sin City this weekend. Why?

Rugby League in Las Vegas 2025 will be bigger, bolder and better, with more games, more teams, more nations and more opportunities for travelling supporters to take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

As rugby league prepares for a history-making trip to Las Vegas, BBC Sport looks at why the sport is trying to crack a formidable US market.

Eight different players from Wigan Warriors scored tries as Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas became the newest ground on which they asserted their dominance; Sky Sports is the only place to watch every

On Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the National Rugby League from Australia and New Zealand will deliver its Act 2 to the U.S.

For those not familiar with rugby league and rugby union, it would be easy to confuse the pair as simply 'rugby'.