The NRL has confirmed two games will be played in Las Vegas to launch the 2024 season, with Manly, Brisbane, South Sydney and the Sydney Roosters locked in to feature.

The matches will be the first for premiership points to be contested outside Oceania and were confirmed Friday afternoon after months of build-up.

The NRL invited clubs to submit expressions of interest to be involved in the fixtures, with the successful applicants notified Friday. 

The Canberra Raiders and Melbourne Storm were also considered before being overlooked.

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo and Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys both travelled to America in May to investigate the feasibility of the fixtures. 

But it has taken some three months since then to plan the historic games, with the league set to liaise with the four clubs on further logistics and announce more details in the coming weeks.

The NRL is likely to announce the 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium – home to the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders – as the location of the matches to be played in the first week of March.

The NRL sees the fixtures as an opportunity to break into the lucrative American sports gambling market, and to convert fans of the similarly gladiatorial NFL.

“The 2024 Las Vegas matches will form part of an exciting ‘Australia Week’ in Las Vegas where we will be showcasing rugby league and Australia to the US market,” said Abdo.

“We are now working collaboratively with the four clubs to finalise arrangements for the proposed matches in Las Vegas and make this a blockbuster event for fans by maximising travel, attendance and enjoyment of a unique rugby league experience.

“Rugby league will be on a stage which the sport has simply never been on before and we look forward to giving all clubs the opportunity in coming years.”