As we move into 2026, rugby league in the UK is set to come to a critical juncture with two major partnerships set to expire.
Many fans will know about the sport’s TV deal with Sky Sports and the fact that it concludes at the end of the 2026 season, however, a possibly even more important partnership is also set to expire at the end of this season.
Super League’s title sponsors Betfred see their deal expire at the close of the 2026 season, having previously signed a three-year deal in 2023.
That deal was announced in October of 2023, just four days before the Super League Grand Final, so in theory, there is plenty of time for the deal to be confirmed.
However, it’s imperative that Rugby League Commercial either secure a new deal with Betfred or bring another title sponsor into the sport as Betfred’s reach has gone beyond Super League, sponsoring the Challenge Cup, Championship and Women’s Super League as well.
Rugby league facing critical juncture in 2026
Reported by Super League at the time as a “record-breaking three-year extension”, the deal with Betfred represented a 25% increase on the previous deal.
Securing a title sponsor and a new TV deal have to be the biggest priorities for Rugby League Commercial in 2026, a year that is already packed with events.
Super League has it’s 30th anniversary this year, Magic Weekend moves to Everton, and the Las Vegas game continues but all of that is relatively unimportant compared to securing the vital funding of a title sponsor and a new TV deal.
Sky Sports have held the TV rights for Super League since the competition’s inception and whilst in recent years the BBC have taken games, the money from Sky is what keeps the sport alive at the elite level.
With Super League expanding to 14 teams and two of those teams currently being on half the funding, it’s imperative that the next TV deal represents an increase in funding.
Similarly, any title sponsor, be it Betfred or another company, also needs to increase if the sport is to continue to grow and not simply remain stagnant, or worse regress.
Of all the drama to come in 2026, the biggest two factors will likely be played out behind closed doors but will shape the future of rugby league in the UK.
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Eric T Cat
January 1, 2026 at 5:07 pm
We can rely on the Rugby Football League to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They need a deal that at least doubles the current Sky deal, they need multiple significant sponsorships from major organisations. We need a deal that gets the sport a higher profile. We need an insistence on the deal abandoning flat caps, Menes, dockers, mill workers, and pints of mild imagery! We need in studio analysis. We need something like the Matty Johns show. Get Adam Hills with an ex pro to front it!
What we’ll get is a deal that forces the game to semi professionalism, reduced audience share, even less national print media coverage.
The most prominent sponsorship deal people ever noticed was the Stobart trucks. A deal they did for free. At the time I worked down south with football and union supporters, but every day I would get reports of which one they had seen, where they had seen it, how many of the trucks they had seen, which ones they were still looking for, it was something that grabbed peoples attention. They were especially keen to see if they could see my teams one and rub it in because it took me ages to catch that one. Perhaps that is a scheme that could be resurrected, maybe using B&M or a major supermarket lorries? As it stands now, you would never know the sport existed unless you were a diehard fan., I haven’t seen an advert for it anywhere and I live in Hull, a supposed hotspot. Any deal with the TV company has to insist on regular advert providing the sport with decent coverage, whenever sky do an advert showing which sports they are covering you very rarely see rugby league included in it. If the BBC are going to cover a rugby union event it is Walter wall advertising, if they are covering a rugby league event you need to know it is going to be on the BBC through other outlets and have access to their obscure outlets hidden away on iPlayer, behind the red button, or pressing a complex sequence of buttons on your remote control to get it on screen.
I can’t remember the channel that used to show the National Conference games, but it’s a shame they aren’t shown anymore, but at least they made the effort, at least they had a real commitment, they showed a real passion for the game at grassroots level, I actually enjoyed watching those games. It was also worth watching for the odd F bomb dropped by Paul Woods.(?) so much so they had to pre-record all his segments.
I want to applaud the number of channels that have popped up on YouTube promoting rugby league, genuine efforts to put a positive face on the sport, run on a shoestring, but they’re making a real effort, and there are players who are happy to get involved, who come across as erudite, dedicated sportsmen, eager to promote their talents, skills, and commitment. That’s something we don’t see from the RFL!
If the RFL make a complete pigs ear of this, as they are prone to do, then they could kill the sport professionally in the northern hemisphere. I’ll be honest I won’t be watching on Sky this year I’ve made the decision to watch NRL games through the Watch NRL app, I am just sick to death of such poor coverage on sky. What coverage there is is grudging. The BBC is nigh on unwatchable, they can’t get away from the game quickly enough once the hooter goes The only pits, mills, or docks that still exist in the north of England are pretty much historical museums or mothballed, rather than working industrial power houses, but that is the favourite image of the BBC. I swear it is a matter of time before John Wilking is required to stand there holding a pint in one hand, and a whippet on a string in the other with a bloody great big flat hat that echoes the episode of. The Goodies with the noble art eckythump.
Lions led by donkeys. That’s all I see when I think of the RFL. What’s this years disaster going to be, reducing to 8 clubs? Going cap in hand back to the RFU?
Donald
January 1, 2026 at 5:46 pm
Spot on post I’ve been saying it for years may aswell go in for the banging my head against a wall olympics. Regards new deals I can already see this being in trouble. WHY well the minute they agreed to let Nigel Wood back in after paying a fortune to get him out and his backer Derek Beaumont. What a massive step backwards for the game that is. Love it or hate it and whatever conspiracy theories are out there we need to let the NRL in and do away with the self interest, it’s the self interest that is killing the game as a professional entity.