LEAGUE EXPRESS understands that the NRL has suggested to the RFL that it would be prepared to raise the Super League clubs’ income from its current level of £1.3 million per club to £2.1 million per club if it is given a controlling stake in the competition.

The NRL is looking to agree a wide-ranging deal with the DAZN that would incorporate all rights to broadcast and stream major Rugby League competitions throughout the world and that to agree such a deal would mean that the 2026 season would almost certainly be the last season that Super League would be broadcast by Sky Sports.

RL Commercial has already held talks with DAZN about entering the running for Super League broadcast rights although those talks are not thought to have progressed to detailed discussions about the financial return to the RFL and the clubs.

Sky have held a monopoly on Super League broadcast rights since its creation in 1996, but the value of the partnership has dwindled in recent years, with the current deal of £21.5 million a year a fall from £40 million in an earlier rights cycle.

That’s despite every game being available for broadcast for the first time under this contract, albeit with the production costs covered by Sky themselves.

The danger for Super League if it agreed an individual deal with DAZN is that it would be cutting its links with Sky and there would almost certainly be no way back in the event that an agreement with DAZN was unsuccessful.

However, some clubs may be prepared to pull away from Sky if they are doing so under the shelter of the NRL, especially if the Australian governing body is prepared to guarantee more money going to the clubs.

League Express understands that further discussions are likely to be scheduled at some point after the end of the international season.