Today 37 of 42 members in the rugby league pyramid gave their support to IMG’s recommendations for rugby league which suggest the end of traditional relegation in Super League with licencing set to take effect instead.
Some members abstained from the vote whilst Keighley Cougars were the only side to vote against it branding the changes “unfair” and “anti-competitive.”
They have worked hard to earn promotion into the Championship and have now made some exciting Super League calibre signings in a bid to go further.
They feel that their efforts could be undone by these proposals.
However, the vast majority of clubs backed these changes to rugby league in Britain, but what will happen next?
In the statement released by the RFL today, they revealed the next steps which were the following:
“The sport’s executives will now work with IMG to scope out the details of the recommendations. This will involve appropriate consultation with clubs and other stakeholders.
“This work will sit alongside other workstreams to maximise the commercial potential of the sport and build deeper relationships with fans and new audiences.
“Members were assured that they will have further opportunity to register their views as the process continues.”
But what does this mean?
Well, it points to further discussion between clubs and those implementing the changes as well as discussions on the finer details of these recommendations which are still pretty vague at this moment in time.
It was this vagueness that reportedly led to clubs abstaining from the vote and still has some rugby league fans worried about what these recommendations will look like in practice.
The RFL and Super League have time on their sides with the 2023 Super League season set to adopt the same structure whilst the 2024 season will bridge the current structure to the future of the sport.
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