Super League confirmed for first pre-season friendly ahead of big 2024

Many clubs have big plans for 2024 including Castleford Tigers, Halifax Panthers and Keighley Cougars and it has been confirmed that these teams will collide in pre-season.

This came as Keighley owner Ryan O’Neill spoke about the plans for 2024 as the club had a disappointing 2023 suffering relegation having been on the wrong side of the IMG vote having passionately opposed IMG’s plans for the sport.

O’Neill has big plans for next year including a friendly against Castleford Tigers which he confirmed would see them receive 50% of the overall gate.

The two were supposed to meet last year for former Castleford star Jake Webster’s testimonial but adverse weather affecting the saw the event pushed back.

The two clubs will be hoping for better luck in 2024.

O’Neill outlined the plans here: “As the start of the 2024 pre-season looms I thought it was a good idea to update you, our loyal fans on our targets and aims for the season ahead.

“First of all and this doesn’t come easy, but after much deliberation and financial forecasting we need to increase our ticket pricing by £3. Our pricing has remained the same since 2019, without any increases at the gate. Last year fans enjoyed the most affordable Championship Rugby League in the country at just £15 per adult.

“We can’t ignore the rise inflation, rising utility costs and the value of what we are putting out on the field it’s now time to make the difficult decision to increase the ticket prices by £3. Children under 16 remain free for the 2024 season.

“This starts with our friendlies, which are all 50/50 shared gates.

“We need the club to be financially stable and plan for what lies ahead in the IMG era of Rugby League and have the capital to grow the business off-field. We need to survive as a club and this small increase ensures we can build sustainably for the future.

“Our aim this year on field is simple – we need to be back in the Championship system and this small increase allows us to forecast 24 months ahead with confidence and we can guarantee to hold these ticket prices into 2024, whatever the league structure looks like by then.

“We also have friendlies planned in January against Castleford Tigers and Halifax Panthers. Further exciting details on these fixtures will be circulated shortly.”