As the sport increases its conversations with broadcasters over a new TV deal for 2027 and beyond, Super League continues to shoot itself in the foot.
The business end of the season should be when as many eyeballs as possible are watching the game, especially with how tight and competitive the ladder is shaping up to be.
With seven games of the regular season remaining, there are just eight points between Super League’s top seven teams, and with this season proving that anyone can beat anyone, it makes for a thrilling end to the season with no one knowing how the final standings will look.
With that uncertainty comes intrigue, and not only will opposition fans be more likely to watch other matches given how it could directly affect their side, it is also more likely to attract new or neutral fans, particularly with a lack of other major sports on at this moment in time.
With the football season not kicking off until mid-August and Formula 1 on its summer break, it means that there is a huge gap in the Sky Sports market to be filled, yet Super League fails to maximise that opportunity with games clashing with each other.
Just looking at this week alone, round 21, there are three games that all take place on Friday at 8pm. Whilst that is prime time for rugby league, an already limited number of fans are being forced to choose between three ties, whilst on Sunday there are no games at all.
The same occurs in rounds 22, 25 and 26, with clubs choosing to host their fixtures on Friday night rather than utilise all the space and play it on a Sunday. In fact, there is only one weekend remaining that has a Sunday game, and ironically that is also a fixture clash, with both York v Leeds and Warrington v Huddersfield taking place on Sunday 23rd August.
Between now and round 26, there are 43 games left of the season. We ignore the final round of the season, where scheduling clashes must happen for the fairness of the competition. Of those 43 matches, 21 directly clash or overlap with each other, be that on a Friday night, Saturday afternoon or, as mentioned, Sunday afternoon.
With the game at such a critical juncture in terms of the finances involved in a new broadcast deal, having just under half of the remaining games clash in some capacity is not a good look, and viewing figures are being hampered as a result.
Should the NRL involvement come ahead of 2027, one thing that needs to be high on their agenda is the schedule. The Aussie competition are able to schedule all its games so that they don’t clash, so why can’t Super League?
St Helens in crisis, Rowley exit reaction and debating Super League’s best-ever overseas player – Click here to watch the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show!
Anonymous
July 29, 2026 at 1:56 pm
Because the sport is run by incompetent people and honestly I think Sky have as much to do with the schedule.