Field performance will only count as one quarter of a team’s performance. Super League Fate under a 20-point plan to ‘redesign’ rugby league presented to clubs by sports media giant IMG huddersfield Thursday.
Finance, ‘fan’, stadium and service area are the other four areas that will form the rating system that IMG hopes will help spark greater and broader interest in the sport and lead to larger investment and broadcast deals.
Proposals that require a majority of 38 top local clubs to vote in favor next month will each see A, B or C ratings and will be placed accordingly from the start of the 2025 season, at which point the automatic promotion and relegation system will be undermined.
The highest ranked clubs in the annual reviewed ratings will be promoted to the highest level or exempted from relegation, with remaining places, including potential promotion from the Championship, determined by the highest ranked Class B parties. .
The proposals continued to be met with caution by officials as they met, with the exception of the second-tier Keighley Cougars, who were the only ones to vote against the first plan last October, and co-owner Ryan O’Neill described Thursday’s developments as “absolutely insane”.
O’Neill and his partner, Kaue Garcia, distributed an 18-page pamphlet criticizing the plan and detailing the reasons for maintaining the automatic up-down model, and vowed to launch an online petition in hopes of getting the issue debated in parliament.
“You have to have a PhD in astrophysics to understand the grading system they apply,” said an enraged O’Neill. “Absolutely crazy. What they’ve created is an elite cartel.
“They’re taking the opportunity away from them. Well done Keighley, why would I dare to spend my money on this just because they’re going to say you won the Championship, but sixth-placed London is on the rise?”
Fly Five factors – ‘fandom’ and finances covering performance, physical participation and digital participation – will be prioritized and five points will be awarded to each club in each category.
You must have a PhD in astrophysics to understand the grading system they place. Absolutely crazy. What they’ve created is an elite cartel.
Ryan O’Neill, co-owner of Keighley
The remaining two categories – stadium and district population that prioritize facilities and use over ownership, and service area based on the number of clubs in the surrounding area, will provide three and two points respectively.
Wakefield president John Minards, who seems in danger of leaving the nearest club after a bad start to the current campaign, said he remained “broadly positive” about the offers, while York owner Clint Goodchild said “too much logic”.
However Leeds rhinos general manager Gary Hetherington seemed to admit that a hypothetical situation where second-tier champions were not promoted in favor of a club that finished the season in the lower position would not be a good outlook for the sport.
When the first puppet standings were released at the end of this season, Hetherington, who looked like one of a handful of minors for the Rhinos A-class, admitted that “There’s a lot more thought to this issue.” “This is a recommendation, prompted by the fact that it’s a work in progress.”
With the exception of Keighley, other lower-level clubs seem willing to support the IMG project, and officials have dismissed O’Neill’s portrayal of a “closed shop”, insisting that the plan would encourage good practice by providing promising clubs a clear path to success. A license.
At the heart of this path is a strong belief expressed by the company’s chief executive, Rhodri Jones. Rugby League The advertisement is that sport should seize the opportunity to incorporate off-court factors into the promotion and relegation model.
“We’re not saying there is no movement between the leagues, but we need to avoid a situation where teams that have been promoted in six of the last seven seasons all go straight back to the Championship,” Jones said.
“What this rating process will do is continue to reflect performance on the field, but you also need to be good or better in other areas that provide sports entertainment.
“We can continue to be promoted and relegated and be in the same position three years later and everyone will look around and ask what has changed. This is our attempt to do something different without removing it completely.”