RFL set to agree new TV deal – Five potential broadcasters for Super League and the Championship

Sky Sports have agreed a new TV deal with RL Commercial to continuing showing Super League in 2024 after the expiry of the current deal in 2023.

This new deal is worth just over £20 million which is a slight reduction on the previous £24 million deal. The deal continues until 2026 and will see Sky Sports show every Super League game next year.

But this isn’t the only TV deal that expired this year with the deals with Channel 4 in Super League and Viaplay in the Challenge Cup and the Championship.

They will definitely not be renewing but much more positively Wakefield owner Matthew Ellis has revealed that a TV deal for the Championship and presumably the Challenge Cup will be announced imminently.

But which broadcasters could this be with?

Channel 4

The ideal broadcasters for many fans would be a new deal with Channel 4 which would include coverage of the Championship and the Challenge Cup as well as 10 Super League games per season. This is what fans would love to see but based on the comments from Helen Skelton it seems Channel 4’s time with the sport is over.

ITV

Another free to air option for the sport would be ITV. We know that RL Commercial have the right to agree a free to air partnership with Sky Sports and ITV would be a sensible selection and as part of this deal it would make sense to include the Championship. They have a variety of channels so keeping the Championship on a channel like ITV2 would be ideal with sporadic Super League games on ITV.

Channel 5

Another sensible deal would be with Channel 5. They have shown a lot of great sport and giving them the Championship as well as 10 Super League fixtures would be fantastic and give the sport a regular home and appearances on free to air TV would be great for sport and the Championship.

DAZN Sports

DAZN were interested in Super League rights but missed out but a move to the Championship would make a lot of sense for them and the Championship itself. It would be great to see the sport on this platform.

Streaming Service

Ultimately though it may be a case that we see the sport have to show its own games. IMG are developing an OTT which is a form of streaming service which is could be a sensible home for the Championship.