Having another roll in Las Vegas this weekend is a long way from rugby league's first forays into selling the sport to Americans. A grainy black-and-white newsreel of a bunch of college students in uniforms that covered them from the knees to wrists is stored in the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia under the

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.

Rugby league returns to Las Vegas for a second successive year as the sport continue to expand its horizons in the pursuit of global growth. Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) last year hosted two season-opening fixtures in Sin City to showcase the tournament to American audiences,