One of the twelve current Super League club owners has explained why expanding to fourteen teams for 2026 makes sense, casting insight onto his thought process and shedding some light on what was said in Monday’s meeting at Headingley.
At a club owner’s meeting on Monday, a majority vote decided that Super League will expand from twelve to fourteen teams for the 2026 season. Per reports, nine clubs voted in favour, whilst Hull KR and Hull FC voted against with Wigan abstaining.
It’s worth noting that both Hull FC and Hull KR had voted yes on the proposal to expand to fourteen teams for the 2027 season, with votes held on 10 teams, 12 teams, 14 teams and in what year it would move to 14 teams.
Some of that information was revealed by Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont in a video shared by the club, with Beaumont saying plenty about why the move to fourteen teams makes sense.
Now, Wakefield Trinity owner Matt Ellis has had his own say, appearing on BBC Radio Leeds to offer fans insight into his voting and what it means for both Trinity and Super League in the future.
Why Matt Ellis voted for Super League to expand
A fourteen-team Super League would mean that each team simply plays the other twice, home and away, thereby removing loop fixtures from the equation. For Ellis, that was the biggest factor.
“I just think, going forward, the loop fixtures are a massive issue. I think they skew the league year in, year out,” he explained, even noting how those loops could play a massive role this year.
“It’s so nip and tuck this year, and I just think that if you miss out on the play-offs by two (points), or miss out on the top two by two (points), I think you could look at it and go’the fixture list might have edged it one way or another’, especially this year with Salford and stuff like that.”
St Helens, who sit one place above Wakefield, have played Salford three times this year and have gained a whopping points advantage which could prove pivotal, however, Ellis added other reasons for the expansion.
That expansion may not even end at fourteen as well, with Ellis suggesting Super League could even grow to 16 teams.
The Trinity owner continued: “There are other parts of it as well, in terms of trying to grow the game. Maybe long-term, I actually see it going past 14. I think it’d be good to go one step further and maybe get up to 16 as a maximum and spread the game throughout and into new areas, potentially York and other clubs like that.”
What’s the future of Super League Magic Weekend?
Currently in it’s twelve-team format, every Super League side plays the other home and away with an additional five loop fixtures which are based on the previous season’s finish.
First will play third, fifth, seventh, ninth and eleventh and so on for each and every club, with evens playing evens, so parity was intended when adding loop fixtures though it didn’t always work that way.
Many fans agree that loops are an issue but they have given birth to one of the game’s great events and that is Magic Weekend with Magic serving as one of the loop fixtures and at a neutral venue.
If loops were to be fully removed then Magic Weekend would end, in it’s current form at least, and Ellis had his say on the event.
He revealed: “There’s been no sort of firm information in regards to Magic. There was a suggestion on the slides on Monday that we could maybe move the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup to Magic, but that is still to be debated.
“I think that would be a great thing. I think it would give other clubs, maybe in the Championship, a chance to get to Magic. Could the 1895 Cup Final go there? It depends what time of year it is. There are some things that could be added to it.”
