Five possible venues for 2025 Magic Weekend revealed by RL Commercial boss

Rugby League Commercial boss Rhodri Jones has named five possible destinations that could host Super League’s Magic Weekend in 2025, including both Paris and Dublin.

Jones revealed the information when speaking on Sky Sports after the conclusion of the 17th edition of Magic Weekend, which some fans had feared could have been the last.

That fear originated due to the fact that the sport’s commercial partner IMG want to remove loop fixtures, which Magic Weekend is, however, Jones provided clarity on that situation.

Asked about the future of Super League’s showpiece event, Jones explained: “Just provide a bit of clarity around that, the IMG recommendation was to get rid of the loop fixtures but I think we probably could have been a bit clearer in terms of excluding Magic Weekend from that sentence, so the intention was always to continue with Magic Weekend.

“As always, we will always review it and not do something for the sake of doing it. So Magic Weekend is in the calendar for next year. At the moment we are in discussions with some other venues and Elland Road as well.”

Jones would go on to reveal which other destinations were in contention, even noting Paris and Dublin, which have the subject of recent reports.

Where will Super League hold Magic Weekend in 2025?

Following the confirmation that Magic Weekend will remain in the calendar for 2025, the next obvious question was where and that’s what Jones revealed was the “hardest bit”.

He told Sky Sports: “We know the fan feedback is a destination venue. We’ve got to put all the pieces of the jigsaw together and come up with a solution but we are actively looking at venues for next year.

“Where is probably the hardest bit. Depending on the time of the year and the availability of stadiums. One of the reasons why we’re not in Newcastle this year is the unavailability of St James’s but we have a good relationship here (Elland Road). They’ve hosted matches for us historically, so the relationship here is good. We’ve proved to them that we are an event that is worth having for them and for us as well.

“Newcastle, we’ve been there for seven years, so clearly there’s live conversation there, but we’ve opened the batting, as it were, with Nottingham, with Cardiff. We could discuss about Dublin and probably, in the future, who knows, Paris might be an option.”

Jones had earlier argued that the event was a resounding success with over 50,000 fans in attendance, however, the total across the two days actually marked the second-ever-lowest figure, whilst Sunday’s attendance marked the lowest-ever Sunday crowd.