Today could be a monumental day in the history of British rugby league.
After five months looking into the biggest talking points in rugby league – especially centring around structure with a 10 team Super League at one stage being suggested – IMG will present their recommendations to Super League, Championship and League 1 clubs today in an event that could determine the direction rugby league takes for the next decade and beyond.
IMG became an official partner to the sport in May agreeing a 12-year-deal to ‘reimagine rugby league’ and got straight into business.
They started with meeting clubs which itself sparked controversy with Catalans believing that rival Super League clubs, namely Huddersfield, had questioned the value they brought to the league despite playing in the 2021 Grand Final.
Then IMG arranged a survey for fans to participate in which dealt with issues like the French teams, the structure of the league and the role of showpiece events in the sport.
These topics were said to divide plenty of fans when the results came back. However, on the back of that, IMG are ready to present their recommendations today however there will be no vote on them today with the focus merely being the presentation of IMG’s recommendations according to an RFL spokesperson.
They also revealed that the vote itself will take place “later in the autumn” leaving us with an intriguing subplot during the World Cup.
So we will not know what the future of rugby league is today, but a step will be taken towards it for sure.
No matter what happens, the 2023 campaign will follow the same format as this year. Any changes will take effect in 2024.