Bradford Bulls’ IMG score explained as huge stadium and finance boosts ensure Super League return

Bradford Bulls are officially back in Super League with the club ranking 10th on the IMG grades and it’s now been explained why and how.

The West Yorkshire club have made a massive leap from their 2024 IMG score, gaining over 2.5 points and moving from 16th to 10th on the rankings.

That ensures they will be playing in Super League in 2026 with Bradford Bulls replacing Salford Red Devils, after the cash-strapped Devils placed 15th on the IMG rankings.

Friday will see us learn which two clubs from outside the twelve are promoted with Super League set to expand but Bradford won’t have to go through the stress of that independent panel, having earned their promotion via the IMG grades.

They’ve scored a whopping 14.81, up from 12.15 in 2024, with the Bulls the highest-ranked Grade B side and only 0.19 points away from being a Grade A club.

They’ve now revealed how exactly they’ve managed to make such an extraordinary leap.

How every rugby league club scored as full IMG rankings revealed

How Bradford Bulls scored on every IMG pillar

Whilst plenty of teams have improved their IMG score, no club have made a leap quite like Bradford barring those who either didn’t register a score last year (Whitehaven and Batley) or are new to the process (Goole).

Their 2.66 point increase comes in spite of the fact the Bulls have actually lost points on one of the five pillars with their fandom score dropping from 4.2 to 3.9.

And with no change on their community score of 2.25 out of 2.5, it means the Bulls have made up 2.96 points across the remaining three pillars.

We already knew that their performance score had increased marginally, jumping from 2.1714 to 2.5143. That was on account of their consistent placings in the Championship over the past three years but that increase of just under 0.35 points is dwarfed in comparison to their finance and stadium boosts.

The Bulls have scored 4.25 on finance, an increase of 1.5 on 2024, and it’s fair to say that’s a huge score. For context, Leigh Leopards also scored 4.25 on finance and they have a benefactor in Derek Beaumont who pumps plenty of money into the club.

Stadium is the other pillar where Bradford have made huge strides, somewhat ironic given the state of Odsal, but the Bulls have played the system and managed to get their ground somewhat up to scratch.

They’ve increased their score by over a point, up from 0.7811 to 1.8992 meaning it scores more than Salford Red Devils’ ground, with a key reason for Bradford’s score being the fact they own Odsal.

Club CEO Jason Hirst is expected to release a statement later today to shed more light but the Bulls are back in the big time, with huge financial and stadium gains contributing to that.

Breakdown of Bradford Bulls’ IMG score

Fandom – 3.9 out of 5 (down from 4.2 in 2024, a decrease of 0.3)

Performance – 2.5143 out of 5 (up from 2.17.14 in 2024, an increase of 0.3443)

Finance – 4.25 out of 4.5 (up from 2.75 in 2024, an increase of 1.5)

Stadium – 1.8992 out of 3 (up from 0.7811 in 2024, an increase of 1.1181)

Community – 2.25 out of 2.5 (no change from 2024)

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