YESTERDAY afternoon, IMG released their plans to Super League, Championship and League One clubs at the home of the Huddersfield Giants.
Five major criteria will mark where clubs fall, with fandom (25%), finances (25%), performances (25%), stadium (15%) and catchment (10%) the areas weighted.
Moving forward, there will be a period of consultation for six weeks. Online sessions are scheduled with the RFL, RL Commercial and IMG project team to answer any questions club representatives have on the criteria.
Those dates are March 13th, March 22nd and April 5th before the vote of all 36 RFL Council members which will be taken on April 19.
That being said, before that vote, clubs will have the opportunity to register for a session as well as send any queries in advance.
There is a strong feeling from IMG that the vote will pass with only Keighley Cougars the club to express their dissatisfaction with the proposals so far.
Discussions will then take place in June and July with clubs using current data to explain the model and their current score.
Clubs will then have a number of months to try and make improvements before an illustrative grading will be handed out at the end of the 2023 Super League, Championship and League One seasons.
Then in summer 2024, gradings for 2025 will be released.
In the meantime, a short handbook will be made available to all clubs with a summary of what is included in each of the five pillars of the criteria.
A full list of sources for all third-party data included in the model will be included as well as data requirements reflecting what the clubs will need to provide and by when.
