Huddersfield’s John Smith’s Stadium will not be hosting games when Super League returns.
TotalRL can reveal the stadium has pulled out of the running to host matches and will not appear on the list of venues hosting games when the Super League fixtures are revealed on Wednesday.
The decision is thought to be related to the football season. The Giants share the ground with EFL Championship side Huddersfield Town, who have been using the ground since their season restarted.
Instead, it’s understood an application will be put in for the ground to host one round of Challenge Cup fixtures.
It leaves just four UK grounds currently in the running to host games. Leeds’ Headingley Stadium; heavily expected to host the triple-header on August 2nd, is one of the four alongside Salford’s AJ Bell Stadium, St Helens’ Totally Wicked Stadium and Warrington’s Halliwell Jones Stadium.
People have questioned what clubs gain from hosting games – other than home advantage, but Warrington CEO Karl Fitzpatrick explained commercial reasons were a large incentive for their application.
“The level of detail you have to provide is incredible,” he said.
“There maybe an element of home advantage, although if you look at the Bundesliga and the NRL the away teams was getting more victories than the home team.
“But the commercial value we see is stadium naming rights and hoping that the games will have multiple broadcasts over the two days.
“The reference to the Halliwell Jones Stadium provides them with much-needed exposure, likewise with stadium signage for our sponsors and advertisers.”
