Ambitious Bristol Bears will continue exploring opportunities to break new ground following the success of their money-spinning venture in Cardiff yesterday.<\/b><\/p>\n
Pat Lam\u2019s title-chasers took their home Gallagher Premiership home fixture against Bath to the Principality Stadium, beating their understrength West Country rivals 36-14.<\/p>\n
The event was marketed as \u2018Big Day Out\u2019 and attracted a crowd of 51,095 \u2013 a club record for a Bristol game and approaching double the size of Ashton Gate\u2019s capacity.<\/p>\n
Bristol target USA fixture<\/p>\n
Following the commercial success of this year\u2019s event, the Bears will head back to the Welsh capital next season for what will become a double-header with a Bristol Bears women\u2019s fixture.<\/p>\n
Yet Bristol<\/a> chief operating officer Tom Tainton has revealed the club are looking beyond just the UK \u2013 with the American market also on their radar.<\/p>\n Saracens previously took two Premiership<\/a> fixtures to the USA<\/a> and Wigan Warriors recently played Warrington Wolves in Las Vegas in the first Super League game to be staged Stateside.<\/p>\n That was part of a five-year deal the NRL (National Rugby League) has to stage their season-opening games in Sin City over one weekend.<\/p>\n That did not go unnoticed by Tainton, who told Planet Rugby: \u201cI\u2019m a big fan of rugby league and what the NRL have done over in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s fantastic to see the way they have sold a collision sport to a US audience, with all the glitz and glamour that comes with that.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst and foremost, here at Bristol Bears we absolutely looked at other sports for inspiration before making the decision to take Saturday\u2019s game to Cardiff.<\/p>\n \u201cMyself and Gavin Marshall (CEO for the Bristol Sport group) have actually spent time out in the US during the past two summers, going to different events and speaking to various stakeholders.<\/p>\n \u201cAmerica and North American sports remain the market leader when it comes to how to engage fanbases and truly understand their audiences.<\/p>\n \u201cI love the NFL, I love the NBA and I love how they create stories and narratives.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I think it\u2019s a really positive thing that we\u2019re now seeing the NRL and, more recently, the Super League following suit in rugby league.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s definitely something that we\u2019ve been able to draw inspiration from and, from a wider standpoint with the Premiership, we\u2019re really excited about the executive\u2019s plans for the competition and what it\u2019s going to look like moving forward.<\/p>\n \u201cNo option should be off the table and that\u2019s not to say that anything has been tangibly discussed at this stage.<\/p>\n \u201cBut absolutely at Bristol Bears, because of the club that we are and the attitude we have to be at the forefront of positive change, if opportunities arose to play overseas then that\u2019s absolutely something that we would consider.\u201d<\/p>\n Bristol v Bath: Five takeaways as Bears make rivals pay to congest Premiership play-off race<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n