In May 2022, Super League and the Rugby Football League announced a 12-year strategic partnership with IMG to “reimagine rugby league and its competitions in the UK”.
After previous attempts to revamp the sport, and a flirtation with Eddie and Barry Hearn in 2018 which came to nothing, getting into bed with IMG was almost seen as a last throw of the dice.
Nearly three years on and the impact of the global marketing and media giants has come under growing scrutiny.
Progress has been slow and many clubs, publicly and privately, have begun to voice their dissatisfaction at IMG.
“Very underwhelmed,” is the general consensus amongst club bosses over a consultancy that pays IMG £450,000 per year but appears to have delivered few tangible results so far.
Sky Sports has been the sport’s main broadcast partner since the formation of Super League in 1996 but the deal has shrunk considerably in recent seasons.
The contract was worth about£40 million per season in 2021 but its value has fallen to just £21.5 million under the latest deal.
Some clubs may need to go semi-professional
That has meant the central distribution for clubs has been reduced massively and raised concerns that some without wealthy benefactors may be forced to go part-time.
Salford Red Devils were in danger of going bust before being taken over recently and Hull FC, Castleford Tigers and London Broncos have undergone – or are undergoing – a change of ownership.
With cash increasingly tight, the partnership with IMG has been questioned and one Super League club CEO, who did not wish to be named, told Telegraph Sport: “At the outset, the term ‘reimagine’ led us to believe that we would see something different, fresh and revolutionary.
“In reality, the work that IMG have done has been more infrastructure-related and led us all to feel very underwhelmed.”
Concerns centre largely on the controversial grading criteria that IMG introduced which ended automatic promotion and relegation to and from Super League.
From last season, clubs are now graded not solely by on-field performance, with Super League places instead determined based on a club’s finances, fanbase size, stadia and catchment area.
The idea is that Grade A clubs are automatically in Super League, with the best-performing Grade B clubs then making up the rest of the 12 clubs in the competition.
As grading scores improve and there one day becomes more than 12 clubs with Grade A status, the top league will then expand, as happens in franchise sports such as the NRL and NFL.
Nine clubs have been awarded Grade A: Wigan, St Helens, Leeds, Warrington, Catalans, Hull KR, Leigh, Wakefield and Castleford Tigers.
The other three clubs in Super League for 2025, the three highest-performing Grade B clubs, are Hull FC, Huddersfield Giants and Salford.
The pros of the grading criteria are that it has forced clubs to improve their stadium, facilities and social media output.
The pre-match entertainment at Leigh – and new stands at Castleford and Hull KR – are examples of the rising standards.
✅ An extra 1,000 seats added to our capacity
???? New three-sided LED system
???? Bigger and better Craven Streat
???? Improved drinks offerings
???? New Community 3G PitchWe are excited to share the improvements and safety updates regarding matchdays for the upcoming season ????… pic.twitter.com/QJRacoKCGZ
— Hull KR (@hullkrofficial) February 6, 2025
But there is a nagging feeling that grading has not been transformative enough; that the partnership with IMG lacks a clear direction and may not last the distance.
IMG has also faced accusations of being too low-profile, with key account manager Matt Dwyer now based in his native Australia.
Another Super League club executive said: “That in itself brings challenges and difficulties.
“What were IMG brought in for and what are they supposed to do?
“We’re paying them £450,000, which is not a ridiculous amount, but it’s probably not money well spent.”
The RFL’s governance of the game has also come under scrutiny as a desire for change stirs at several clubs.
A leading Super League CEO admitted: “There’s a lot up in the air from a governance point of view and a fair amount of s--- flying around.”
Against all that, the season starts on Thursday night when champions Wigan host Leigh in front of over 20,000 fans.
On March 1, Wigan will play their “home” round-three fixture against Warrington in Las Vegas as part of a quadruple-header involving two NRL fixtures and women’s Test match between England and Australia.
Significantly, the ambitious trip to Las Vegas, where the NRL played two fixtures last year, has been driven solely by Wigan and Warrington – not IMG or the RFL.
