- Fandom (25%): encouraging clubs to attract more fans in stadia, both at home and digitally, and improve fan engagement, contributing to both club and central revenues.
- Performance (25%): incentivising clubs to perform on the field and drive fan awareness and engagement. Teams will be ranked between 1 and 36 based on where they finish in the leagues for the previous three seasons. Bonus points will be awarded to teams who win league and cup competitions in the previous season.
- Finances (25%): reflecting the success of fan engagement and business performance and rewarding sustainable investment, as well as diversified revenue streams and sound financial management.
- Stadium (15%): based on a number of factors, including facilities and utilisation, which add value to the fan and broadcast or digital viewer experience, and match or exceed competition from other sports and events.
- Catchment (10%): based on area population and the number of clubs in the area, with a view to maximising growth of the sport in the largest markets to generate new fan bases and incentivise investment.
RL Commercial, the RFL and IMG will conduct a series of grading criteria follow-up consultations with club representatives in March and early April, ahead of a vote which is set to take place on 19 April.
If voted through, illustrative grades for the 2024 season will be released at the end of the 2023 season and clubs will be provided with a dashboard outlining the areas they need to improve to attain a higher grade. Grading will then come into full effect from 2025, with the top tier league comprising of 12 clubs including all ‘Category A’ clubs and the highest-ranking ‘Category B’ clubs. All gradings will be re-assessed annually, meaning it is envisaged that promotion and relegation between the tiers would continue, but no longer wholly determined by on-field performance.
THOUGHTS
Paulie xx
A lot of words without saying much.Criteria can be interpreted any way that suits and is usually skewed towards the current SL clubs.For instance catchment area.Will Saints,Wigan and Warrington suffer the same as Widnes for being in close proximity to eachother or will it just be the lesser club ?
You've taken the words out of my mouth Sinbad.
It's just "Mumbo Jumbo" that can be interpreted (spun?) to mean whatever the powers that be want it to mean!
Seen an article from Aaron bower with a breakdown of what points you score for up to a maximum of 20… with 0.125 of those points for having LED Boards and a big screen 🥴
Seen an article from Aaron bower with a breakdown of what points you score for up to a maximum of 20… with 0.125 of those points for having LED Boards and a big screen 🥴
Fancy missing out on promotion because you don't have an electronic scoreboard!
Paulie xx
So the game is no longer about rugby if only 25% is about performance!! Just ridiculous and is stacked in favour of the likes of york London Sheffield newcastle losing faith with the whole sport
Being a person of a more mature age (50s), I find myself more and more dealing with the 'modern life is sh*t' conundrum. I get that some of it is me getting old but it's undisputable that some of it is that life IS actually getting shi**er.
This IMG proposal falls into the latter category.
We’re a million miles off a Super League club.
Other than crowds we’re no different to the likes of Barrow, Batley, Sheffield etc.
It does seem a somewhat subjective criteria in many ways. For example, do teams almost entirely dependent on funding from an individual to be financially viable, represent sound business performance and sustainable finances? Will financial viability ignore central funding? If not, surely the current SL clubs will be at a clear advantage. How is the catchment area defined? Will the Widnes fan base be restricted to areas within the Halton area, or will the criteria take into account the number of fans attracted from outside the immediate area? Will big city clubs have an advantage, with large catchment areas, notwithstanding that the actual fan base will be minuscule in percentage terms in relation to the population? Will owning the ground give any advantage, or is it simply about facilities and usage. Will clubs at the top of the Championship/League 1 leagues be given equal rating as Clubs in SL?
Whatever they come up with, any grading exercise should be transparent with a full and clear explanation of the grading for individual clubs. I somehow don’t expect this to happen.
My guess, like others, is that this exercise will be skewed to favour current “big clubs” - Wigan, St Helens, Leeds, Warrington, Hull, Catalan/Toulouse - with support for other city clubs in London, York, Bradford, Newcastle and Sheffield. Where that will leave Leigh, Salford, Hull KR, Wakefield, Huddersfield and Castleford is questionable.
We’re a million miles off a Super League club.
Other than crowds we’re no different to the likes of Barrow, Batley, Sheffield etc.
Totally agree, but you could also say that if we had the advantage of SL central funding, you could add Salford, Leigh and maybe Wakefield to the list of similar clubs.
We’re a million miles off a Super League club.
Other than crowds we’re no different to the likes of Barrow, Batley, Sheffield etc.
Totally agree, but you could also say that if we had the advantage of SL central funding, you could add Salford, Leigh and maybe Wakefield to the list of similar clubs.
Without a doubt and why the people who were running the club when we got relegated should never be forgiven for the role they played. Super League was our golden ticket.
Other than attracting external investment I can’t see a way we’ll get back into SL.
It does seem a somewhat subjective criteria in many ways. For example, do teams almost entirely dependent on funding from an individual to be financially viable, represent sound business performance and sustainable finances? Will financial viability ignore central funding? If not, surely the current SL clubs will be at a clear advantage. How is the catchment area defined? Will the Widnes fan base be restricted to areas within the Halton area, or will the criteria take into account the number of fans attracted from outside the immediate area? Will big city clubs have an advantage, with large catchment areas, notwithstanding that the actual fan base will be minuscule in percentage terms in relation to the population? Will owning the ground give any advantage, or is it simply about facilities and usage. Will clubs at the top of the Championship/League 1 leagues be given equal rating as Clubs in SL?
Whatever they come up with, any grading exercise should be transparent with a full and clear explanation of the grading for individual clubs. I somehow don’t expect this to happen.
My guess, like others, is that this exercise will be skewed to favour current “big clubs” - Wigan, St Helens, Leeds, Warrington, Hull, Catalan/Toulouse - with support for other city clubs in London, York, Bradford, Newcastle and Sheffield. Where that will leave Leigh, Salford, Hull KR, Wakefield, Huddersfield and Castleford is questionable.
It's quite ironic that Wakey CEO, Michael Carter has announced today, that he is relinquishing the role and giving his shares away, asap (end of season backstop), after putting £2mill in over 12 years. Looks like he's seen the writing on the wall for Trinity, and the Sky funding maybe about to end. I know they are having a new stand built (at long last) but the rest of the ground leaves a lot to be desired.
Paulie xx
Thanks to the previous regime Widnes won't see SL for the long term.I'm not bothered myself,past caring.Us old arses have been lucky enough to see Widnes winning cups at Wembley,Old Trafford and Anfield.Beating the Aussies,Kiwis and Canberra.We have those memories forever but not so great for the younger fans.
You never know, RFL/SL may well see some merit in a fairer distribution of central funding to Championship/League Clubs to enable them to build towards category A status, which would certainly grow the game. It would also attract new Clubs, who could see an opportunity for future development of the game with adequate funding available.
There is probably more chance of an ice skating tournament in hell before that will happen, after all with the category A club built on a sustainable financial platform, they will not need the central funding!!!