by Heaven knows that rugby league has made many attempts to reinvent itself over the years, often without much success. But 2024 is seen as a truly defining season for the sport.
Significantly, this will be the first time Super League matches will be broadcast live on the BBC following the conclusion of a three-year broadcast deal with Rugby League Commercial.
The Corporation has been synonymous with the Challenge Cup for many years, but Sky Sports is the game’s paymaster and has shown Super League matches almost exclusively since the competition’s inception in 1996.
In 2022, Channel 4 secured a two-year deal to show a small number of Super League games free-to-air, a move designed to widen the code’s appeal, but no money changed hands. Now, however, the new BBC is paying to screen 15 games per season, 10 on network TV and the rest across BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website. This, along with its regular Challenge Cup offering and Super League highlights, will be available the day after the games on the BBC Sport website.
The BBC has been criticized for the gradual decline of the sport it shows with live rights in an increasingly competitive market. Golf and cricket have been two particularly affected sports, and there is no guarantee in the other code that the Six Nations will remain on the BBC in the long term. Therefore, the signing of the Super League agreement is considered a boost for both parties.
In addition, Sky Sports is broadcasting every Super League game for the first time this season. It’s easy to see why optimism abounds in the 13-a-side right now.
Detailing the BBC deal, Rugby League Commercial managing director Rhodri Jones told Telegraph Sport: “We spoke to the four main broadcasters on air and it was pretty clear early on that it was going to be between the BBC and Channel 4.
“When one conversation ended, due to a business decision at Channel 4, we were able to progress discussions with the BBC. We knew they were very passionate about rugby league and we saw live Super League as an opportunity to further embed themselves in the sport.”
Rugby league’s perennial challenge is to achieve greater relevance outside its traditional northern enclaves.
But Jones is confident that the BBC showing Super League games – starting with Castleford-Wigan on Saturday teatime – will be able to give the code much more visibility.
“The opportunities are now endless and the BBC’s coverage certainly provides the ingredients to enable the game to grow,” he said. “But the challenge will be how do we take advantage of it and, having given this platform to the players and coaches, how do we build the audience and become a regular talking point ?
“A lot of people remember the days of the great Wigan team, with players like Shaun Edwards and Martin Offiah, and a lot of that was because of them playing live on the BBC. We now have an opportunity to restore that relationship between our best players and the sporting community, not just rugby league fans, and make them household names.
“It’s probably something that hasn’t been the case in the last 10 to 20 years, with the occasional exception of the likes of Paul Sculthorpe, Kevin Sinfield and Rob Burrow. Everyone is hopeful that the likes of Jack Welsby, Harry Newman and Jai Field will shine on the days they are live on the BBC.”
Jones said Sky Sports had no problem with RL Commercial jumping into bed with the BBC, and its Super League Show will be replaced by a highlights package on the BBC website.
“Terrestrial coverage is massive and the BBC has the biggest audience on the free-to-air channels,” said presenter Tanya Arnold, who will be fronting coverage of Saturday’s Castleford-Wigan match on BBC2.
“So it’s a very significant link for rugby league and the BBC. The highlights package on a website – which is the largest of its kind with 20 million unique views per week – offers huge potential for the sport.
“Rugby league needs as many eyeballs as possible and all the games on BBC and Sky Sports TV certainly provide that. If rugby league isn’t in a healthier place at the end of these three years then we should probably be worried.”
In addition to the BBC and Sky Sports deal broadcasting every game, a new streaming platform has been created in the form of SuperLeague + for 2024.
Meanwhile, all Catalans Dragons matches in France and Spain will be shown in a separate broadcast for the competition.
The broadcast deals come in the context of RL Commercial’s 12-year strategic partnership with IMG announced in May 2022 to restructure and reimagine the game.
The media giants have introduced a grading system to rank clubs on a range of criteria – including fans, stadium, finances and on-field performance – and decide their league position.
Membership of the Super League in 2025 will be determined by the top 12 teams in the 2024 rankings, which will be announced at the end of this season. A Super League spot will be guaranteed to A-grade clubs, which are exempt from relegation, while the rest of the top flight will be made up of the best B-grade clubs.
Progress is finally being felt and Jones added: “We’ve spent six months working hard behind the scenes.
“A lot of that work has come to fruition and we’re at a point where we need to deliver now.”
