FRANK SLEVIN chaired his last Rugby League Commercial Board meeting at the sport’s Manchester headquarters today.
As confirmed in January, Slevin will stand down next month at the end of his three-year term as the inaugural Chair of RL Commercial, having advised the Board that he would not be seeking reappointment for personal reasons.
He was appointed in August 2022 to lead the development of RL Commercial to drive Rugby League’s commercial development following realignment of the sport’s governance.
Slevin said: “I have relished the challenges of the role, and it has been especially pleasing to see the development of RL Commercial in the last couple of years, with the establishing of new commercial partnerships and the cementing of old.
“In recent months, we have seen a number of significant attendance records broken in the Betfred Super League, and that trend is set to continue in the build-up to the Grand Final in October – now re-established as one of the nights of the sporting year.
“We have forged a new identity, working alongside the Rugby Football League, and delivering a string of successful events and partnerships – and 2025 will also see the return of the Rugby League Ashes this autumn in London, Liverpool and Leeds.
“I am grateful to my Board colleagues past and present, to the RL Commercial staff, to the Rugby League clubs and to the players, supporters and officials who make this such an amazing sport.”
Peter Hutton, the Senior Independent Director of RL Commercial, said: “Our thanks to Frank for his three years in post as the inaugural Chair of RL Commercial. Frank has approached the role with the utmost professionalism and provided key leadership to the Executive to enable them to deliver the results we are currently seeing across attendance, audiences, digital engagement and commercial revenues. We look forward to seeing him stay within the game as a fan.”
The Boards of Super League Europe and the RFL will now begin the process of appointing the next Chair of RL Commercial – and an announcement to be made well in advance of the next RL Commercial Board meeting in late September.