Wigan Warriors chief Kris Radlinski on Dublin plans, crowd hopes and what comes next

Wigan Warriors chief executive Kris Radlinski has provided an insight into the club’s plans for their historic Super League trip to Dublin next year.

The Warriors will face Warrington Wolves at the Laya Arena on April 24, 2027, in the first Super League fixture to be played in Ireland.

Radlinski has been heavily involved in getting the event over the line and spoke about the work that has gone into organising the fixture, the plans for a lasting legacy in Ireland, the expected Wigan following and what could come next...

The Dublin event has been rumoured for a while, but it has finally been announced… I bet you are glad to get it over the line?

“I think Dublin suits our demographic - accessible, affordable. I always joke about the number of pints we drink, but it’s a big thing for our fans. We’ll go there, we’ll have a helluva time, we’ll create lots of memories, so it’s a great opportunity.

“This all started in 2024. We went to Vegas (in 2025), and once we got accepted into Vegas, we had to decide which team we wanted to work with. Due to our relationship with Fitzy (Karl Fitzpatrick, Warrington chief executive) and Simon Moran (Warrington owner), we decided on Warrington. Mike Danson (Wigan owner) and Simon Moran created a joint venture because we lost our home game (with Vegas), so they’re losing their home game at this point (in Dublin).

“Simon has always wanted to go to Dublin with family connections there and music connections, so we’ve been working for two years to make it happen, really. We’ve secured the venue. What’s different about this one compared to Paris and Vegas, we’re going to someone else’s party. This one is a blank sheet of paper, and it’s a big piece of work we have to do just to get it over the line and get the contracts drawn, so it took a little bit longer than we would’ve liked.”

Warriors coach Matt Peet has spoken about wanting to leave a legacy in Ireland by getting the local community clubs and the Irish people involved… Do you echo his comments?

“We’ve spoken to the Irish sports minister, so there is an opportunity for us to tap into some funding from the Irish government. Part of that work we’re undertaking is called a legacy impact, so the legacy impact is having a presence in schools and in community clubs, etc.

“So our community foundation, Warrington’s community foundation, they’re meeting. They put a programme together and presented that to the Irish government, and they’re looking at giving us some funding to fund all of this, so it’s very much on the agenda, and part of some of the plans we’re talking about.”

How would it work? Because I assume the foundation staff will have to go over earlier than the players will?

“They’ll be there as well. There is the week of the game, the players will go on a Thursday-Sunday trip.

“In the next few months, we’ll go as clubs over there and we’ll make connections with sponsors, media, foundations, we’ll determine fan bars and then we’ll put an itinerary together.

“Where it is in Dublin, it’s a very affluent area, some of the biggest companies in the world have their headquarters on this street - Meta, WHOOP - so we’ve reached out to these guys and said, ‘this is who we are, this is what’s happening’.

“A lot of fans from the North West will be going up there, so we’ll do a lot of work with them in the lead up to it.”

What sort of crowd are you hoping for at this stage?

“It’s 20,000 capacity. I’ve budgeted for 6,000 (Wigan fans) - I think we’ll blow that out of the water.

“For my numbers and my budgeting, I’ve said 6,000 (Wigan) fans and that’s what I presented to my board. I think we’ll fill it, we’ll work with some marketing agencies on the ground in Dublin, who know the area very well, who will help us to get that over the line.”

Have you spoken to a tourism board over in Dublin about the event?

“Yeah, through Sport Ireland. What happened recently at Everton and the economic impact on the city... I keep going on about the amount of pints we sold, but it’s a big factor.

“Over the Magic Weekend, we sold 151,000 pints in that stadium, so the economic impact in that is a piece of work which will allow us to go to Tourism Ireland and say, ‘can we have some funding off you? This is the impact it will have in the bars, this is the number of people we’ll put in your hotel rooms’.

“If you remember a few years ago, we went to Sydney, we did an economic piece of work then and we did a valuation that each person spent 250 dollars per day, that is food, drink and accommodation, and if you multiply that through, let’s say 15,000 people, it’s a massive number we’re boosting on the region.

“Before we decided, we had a meeting and there’s not actually much happening in Dublin on that weekend, so that’s one of the reasons why we selected that, so we get a free hit at the market on that weekend.”

Fremont Street in Vegas is a real highlight for rugby league fans… Are there any plans to make something similar over in Dublin?

“Temple Bar is an obvious place, the actual area. There’s nothing that will obviously replicate Fremont Street, but we are speaking to areas and bars where we can do some fan stuff which is accessible for all, and we’ll look at some high-end premium hospitality opportunities and also commercialise it.

“It’s a bit different this time to Vegas... Vegas was a bit of a gamble, it was the unknown, and we lost money on Vegas, we didn’t lose as much money as we would’ve thought, but this is very different.

“This is an away game for us, so if we were going to Warrington in an away game, 25 per cent of ticket sales, we’d probably make about 10,000 quid or something like that for Warrington away (normally). With this, we’re looking to make a couple of hundred thousand quid out of it.”

We always think ‘what next?’... This has been two years in the making, but will this venture be continued in 2028 or 2029?

“As it stands at this moment, there is nothing further contractually or relationship-wise. By doing this, Warrington would have completed their obligations, but what it has shown is that there is an appetite for it.

“It’s not lost on me the amount of money it costs for fans to go over there, tickets, hotel, flights, food, drink, retail’s been a massive thing, so it costs fans a few quid, but what I think it has created is a bit of fomo (fear of missing out).

“There are people who regret not going to Vegas, so I think there are people who will go to Dublin who don’t want to miss out, so there is an appetite and we’ve got a responsibility to put outstanding trips on.

“An objective of mine is growing the brand, so I want to do one of these every single year. If we create a blueprint for Dublin, we can give that to someone else over the years and we’ll go somewhere else.

“We’ve got some pretty impressive cities on our portfolio of where we’ve been, but I’m not afraid of anything really of where we’re going to go next.”

You mentioned the April date before... What goes into choosing a specific date?

“The biggest thing was speaking to people in Dublin, and they said that this would work. We then go to Rhodri (Jones, RL Commercial managing director and RFL interim chief executive) and said, ‘we’re thinking of this’, and they then block that weekend out for us.

“The most important thing then is securing our travel for players and all that kind of stuff before it gets leaked. It’s very difficult to keep everything under wraps.”

Will you be having a special kit for the game?

“Warrington are the home team, so I do think they will be going green, so it’s up to us to do something different. I do know what I’ve got up my sleeve!”