In addition to three Tests against the Wallabies, next summer’s fixture list includes a match against a combined Australia and New Zealand team.
Las Vegas has made a concerted move into hosting sport in recent years, with the city putting on the NFL’s Super Bowl, a Formula 1 Grand Prix and the NBA’s In-Season tournament this year.
Baseball’s Oakland Athletics are the latest major franchise to relocate to the city, joining top-level American football and ice hockey teams.
The city has also hosted rugby league and next year Vegas will be the venue for a four-game event, featuring two NRL fixtures, Wigan v Warrington, and England’s women’s team taking on their Australian counterparts, booked in for March.
A warm-up match for the Lions in the United States in 2029 could form part of a series of events to build interest in rugby union in the run-up to the 2031 and 2033 Rugby World Cups in the country.
New Zealand and Ireland are set to meet in Chicago in autumn 2025, with the 2030 edition of the new biennial Rugby Nations Championship, set to begin in 2026, another possibility to be staged on that side of the Atlantic.
