Warrington CEO says Super League name has been tarnished

The RFL have confirmed the areas in which IMG’s club grading criteria for the licencing of potential Super League clubs will focus.

However, they have also confirmed that the rebrand of the men’s and women’s Super League will be complete in time for the new season.

That stated that: “IMG sister company and cultural marketing agency 160over90 expects to complete the wider rebrand of the Men’s and Women’s Super League competitions later this year ahead of the 2024 season launch.”

What exactly this means is unclear. However there has been talk of a new name, a new trophy and an overall new feel to the competition which has had the same title and same trophy since its inception in 1996.

What name would be considered remains unclear at this moment in time.

Speaking on the Eddie and Stevo podcast, Warrington Wolves CEO Karl Fitzpatrick has had his say on the Super League name:

“I’m a bit mixed on it, obviously there’s a lot of Super League. In fact I came across one the other day I think it was the triathlon Super League.

“There’s so many but do you know what I like about the Super League brand? It’s the S, it’s like the Superman logo. I think it looks really really cool and I think as a sport we’ve probably not utilised it enough.

“If you look at the NBA, the NFL or NHL for example, that brand is on every piece of merchandise. You cannot buy an official NFL t-shirt without having the NFL logo on there.”

He went on to suggest that the name has become tarnished with the European Super League controversy in football:

“I don’t think we’ve utilised that to the best of our ability but I understand the other side of the argument that it has been diluted and some negative connotations associated with it now, particularly the European Super League that got disbanded.

“I understand both sides of the argument but I think it would be a shame to lose the Super League logo, I just think there’s an opportunity there that we’ve not tapped into.

“I think the guys that play our sport are real life superman and superwomen so it would be a shame if we lost that logo. I also understand the negative connotations with the brand Super League.”