ALL eyes have been firmly focused on IMG in the past weeks and months following the revelation of grading criteria given to clubs earlier in the year.
Now the full 65-page handbook has been given out to clubs and has been made public on the RFL’s website.
One of the most interesting areas of debate falls into the stadium category, with three points available for clubs to accrue.
1.5 of those points come from facilities, but if the club’s stadium meets the Super League minimum standards then you are given 1.5 points. If it doesn’t, you are given 0.5.
The minimum standards are:
- Capacity – minimum 5,000
- Seats – minimum 2,000
- Sponsors’ Seats: minimum 200, under cover and cordoned off from public areas by a physical barrier.
- Corporate Lounges: over 200.
- Directors Box: 40 seats minimum, all under cover.
- A suitable broadcaster parking area.
- Studio space of 4m x 4m
- Media facilities that should accommodate 30 press with 20 overflow seats.
- Photographer facilities
Clubs then score another maximum of 1 point on the utilisation of their stadium. Utilisation is calculated by the club’s average attendance for the season, as defined under the Fandom attendance pillar, divided by the total stadium capacity (as defined by the Safety Advisory Group].
As an example, if the stadium capacity is 10,000 and the average attendance is 5,000, the utilisation score will be 0.5. The average for the last three years is calculated and used.
If a club has primacy of tenure on their stadium, they score a further 0.25 points – or 0 if they don’t If they don’t, it’s 0.
An additional bonus score of 0.125 is awarded if a club has LED advertising boards
across a minimum of the TV arc (three sides with a content management system):
• 100m length (save for where main dug outs are opposite the TV cameras).
• Full length behind goals.
• 900mm high.
A further 0.125 points is awarded for a big screen, also, with the minimum requirements being:
• LED screen size:
• Panel size:
• Pixel pitch:
• Physical screen resolution – dots:
• Calibrated brightness:
• Refresh rate:
• Ingress protection:
• Input power frequency:
36.86m2
960mm
5mm
1,105,920 dots
6,000 nits
1,920Hz
IP65/IP54
50/60Hz
