History will be made in 2027 when New Zealand’s Eden Park play host to game 2 of the 2027 State of Origin series.
This will be the first State of Origin match played outside of Australia and it is understood at $5 million is what the New Zealand Government reportedly paid to secure the Origin fixture.
Code Sports have reported that the match will kick off at 9:30pm NZT, which is a late kick off time for Kiwi citizens who are accustomed to the 7:05pm kickoff for all footy matches.
A major concern of having an Origin match in New Zealand was the two hour time difference between the two countries.
So although a 9:30pm kickoff is considered late for Kiwi’s, it is only 7:30pm in Australia, who have become accustomed to Origin kicking off at 8pm religiously.
The deal between the New Zealand and Australian government’s is the latest innovative attempt from the Australian Rugby League Commission to grow the game of rugby league outside of Australia.
ARLC boss Peter V’landy’s believes that an Origin match in New Zealand will blow the ratings through the roof as they continue to try new things to grow the sport.
“Origin in New Zealand would rate the house down”
“We will keep trying new things to grow our audience and the one thing we have the AFL doesn’t is international appeal”
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