Australian rugby league’s iconic State of Origin Series is set to be staged outside the country for the first time, with the New Zealand (NZ) Government securing a hosting deal with the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) governing body for the 2027 edition.
The deal, first reported by the Courier Mail, will see Game Two of the series, played annually between the New South Wales Blues and Queensland Maroons, contested at Auckland’s 50,000-seat Eden Park after the NZ Government bid NZ$5 million ($3 million) to stage the match.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The bid is part of the government’s NZ$70 million funding project to boost tourism and bring marquee events to New Zealand.
Sources told the publication the ARLC and NZ Government had reached an in-principle agreement before Christmas, with documents to be rubber-stamped by the governing body before an announcement is made.
The ARLC operates rugby league’s top-tier NRL and NRL Women’s Premiership, as well as the State of Origin series, the Indigenous All Stars Match, the Affiliated States Championship, and the Women’s National Championships.
Since 2018, at least one city outside of Brisbane and Sydney has hosted an Origin game each year, with Melbourne and Perth already locked in to host in 2026 and 2028, respectively.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataIt will be the first time the neutral match has been played outside Australia, but it will not be the first time the series has reached foreign soil.
After Queensland had won the 1987 series 2-1, a fourth exhibition match was played at Long Beach, California, to showcase rugby league to American audiences.
The move comes as part of the ARLC’s drive for international growth, with the body’s admission of Papua New Guinea to the NRL in 2028.
Pay-TV heavyweight Sky NZ holds rights in the country to the NRL and State of Origin until the end of the 2027 season as part of a rights agreement last renewed in 2021.
Australian commercial broadcaster Nine, meanwhile, holds domestic rights to the best-of-three series as part of an exclusive deal with the NRL that runs through 2027.
Under the deal, reportedly worth AU$575 million, the network holds sole Australian free-to-air rights to the State of Origin, as well as the regular National Rugby League series, and to the NRL Grand Final.
The 2025 Origin series attracted 11.4 million viewers across the three games for Nine.
For this year's edition, Game One is scheduled for 27 May 2026 in Sydney, Game Two is on 17 June 2026 in Melbourne, and Game Three is on 8 July 2026 in Brisbane.
