Forget Russell Crowe and NFL stars – could Bluey be the NRL’s secret weapon to help crack the American market?

This week, the NRL released its first ads for the upcoming season about its Las Vegas season opener as the competition gears up for its second appearance in Sin City.

Similar to the ads from last season, the ad showed off the best of what the sport is selling itself as the perfect offseason fix for NFL fans this time involving NFL legend Rob Gronkowski as a “rugby league expert” to help spark interest in the event.

The use of NFL players like Gronkowski who are familiar to the American public certainly helps sell the product to those who might be unsure of what to expect helping provide credibility and legitimacy.

This approach has been consistent with what the NRL has done for the last two years by trying to provide a somewhat similar sport for rusted-on NFL fans to watch as their season concludes.

But there might be another way for the NRL to gain even more traction within the States which could offer a long-term connection with the help of Australia’s biggest TV show export in Bluey to spread the word of the NRL and encourage viewership.

It is no secret that America has fallen in love with the Heeler family with Bluey the most streamed TV series in the United States this year having been watched for a whopping 35 billion minutes. This popularity is shared amongst children and parents now with the Australian cattle dogs becoming household names within many American households.

Bluey has certainly gone out of its way to incorporate Australian culture into its show even having an episode dedicated to State of Origin called “The Decider” in 2022 which invited questions from confused Americans about the sport and what is all about.

This leads me to the idea that the NRL should try and pursue having a Bluey-themed alternative broadcast for its festival of Rugby League in Las Vegas to draw in families already familiar with the TV show and open up a whole new audience that has not been previously considered with Gen Alpha and their parents.

The idea of an alternative broadcast (also known as an AltCast) has become the new rage within America as streaming companies are getting more involved in sports broadcasting and want to provide a point of difference.

Shows like the Manningcast which involve former NFL quarterbacks and brothers Peyton and Eli Manning speaking with famous celebrities and athletes while providing their own commentary and analysis on the Monday Night Football broadcast for ESPN have become a hit with streaming audiences since debuting in 2021.

This popularity in the AltCast has seen movies and TV shows that have a large child audience being used as a way of introducing children to these sporting leagues by using TV shows that they are familiar with to do so.

We have seen ESPN partner with Toy Story and The Simpsons through their parent company in Disney to produce a “Funday Football” AltCast on Disney+ which transported an NFL game into both Andy’s bedroom and Springfield.

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This would be achieved through the use of tracking technology to produce an animated version of the game which had the characters from both shows to create an immersive world for viewers to watch the game.

There have also been AltCasts that are exclusively for kids like Nickelodeon Jr. having provided a secondary broadcast for one NFL game each year since 2020 involving more of an alternative reality (AR) approach with pre-animated bits which includes this year’s Super Bowl.

It provides a great introductory lesson for kids by providing explanations of rules, players and positions during the game through the likes of SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer to do so.

The results have provided promising signs of getting kids interested in sports through these AltCasts.

A 2021 report from business consulting group Morning Consult found that 61% of parents to Generation Alpha (2013-onwards) believe that their child would watch something similar to what Nickelodeon has offered with its NFL broadcasts compared to a traditional broadcast of a game.

In their 2024 report on Gen Alpha’s engagement with sports, it found that only 41% of Gen Alpha’s parents reported that their children are watching pro sports, AltCasts may be the way to engage Gen Alpha and their families by finding them where they are on streaming devices.

With Bluey’s popularity on Disney+ as previously mentioned within the United States, a Bluey-themed alternative broadcast being used across the weekend showcasing the NRL opening doubleheader, the Jillaroos vs Lionesses match and the Super League match would at the very least spark curiosity to see what Rugby League is all about.

Admittedly, this would be near impossible due to the current position of the rights and intellectual property of Bluey in the US.

Currently, the Walt Disney Company have the rights to air and stream Bluey on both Disney Plus and Disney Junior in the US.

They would be unlikely to allow a broadcast of the blue heeler family to appear on a rival’s network like Fox Sports regardless of how much money is thrown to be able to use their image and likeness for this purpose.

Even if all partners involved were able to agree to a fee to be able to use it, the cost of technology to be able to produce the TV product would be another expense to add.

The only plausible way that this gets done would be for Disney to be involved in the next TV rights deal for the NRL which would start in 2028 which would be the last year of the current Las Vegas deal. It will not be till then whether the NRL decides to continue to play games in Sin City.

On top of this, Disney has not shown an interest in trying to secure the streaming/digital rights for the NRL. There is also no guarantee that the company that creates Bluey, Ludo Studios would be interested in being part of this if approached.

But the upside is if all those hurdles could be cleared could help make the league’s exposure go through the roof.

The attention that it would bring to the sport and the Las Vegas weekend in the US media would likely increase from the 100+ media pieces in the US that the NRL got from this year’s event as reported from the NRL’s own metrics.

With the focus being on younger audiences, this could potentially see an uptick in participation rates particularly in kids.

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While looking at the idea in totality, it does seem unlikely that this will get off the ground and become reality before 2026 at the earliest.

The NRL and ARLC would be barking mad to not consider it and at least see whether this would be plausible to at least approach the creators of Bluey.