SUPER LEAGUE is set to expand to 14 teams next season.
A majority of top-flight clubs voted in favour of expansion at a meeting at Headingley today (Monday).
While club gradings will decide twelve of the teams to make up Super League in 2026, the two additional slots will be determined separately by an independent panel.
This will be chaired by Lord Jonathan Caine, who was recently elected to the RFL board, with further details of the process yet to be confirmed.
A reversion to 14 teams for the first time since 2014 is the biggest decision made in the sport since Nigel Wood, now chair of both the RFL and RL Commercial, began a strategic review at the behest of clubs in March.
It’s a dramatic and hugely controversial decision to not only change the league structure with just a couple of months remaining of this season, but to change how Super League status is determined – with two methods side-by-side.
As was the case for the first time this year, twelve clubs will earn their place through their grading score across various on- and off-field metrics, due to be announced shortly after the end of the season.
But a panel will then recommend two further clubs, “provided the panel judges there are two applications of sufficient merit against the set criteria”, according to a Super League statement.
The vote will fire the starting gun on a race to fill at least two available spots in the top flight from next season, with a host of ambitious clubs likely to mount a case.
They include Toulouse Olympique and London Broncos, the two most recent clubs outside of the current twelve to compete in Super League and the pair ranked 13th and 14th respectively in this season’s gradings.
Toulouse could give Super League a second side from across the Channel at a time when the future of French clubs in the British game is being much debated.
London are recovering from last year’s demotion under new owner Gary Hetherington and have struggled on the field, currently sitting tenth in the Championship.
York Knights are top of the second tier, ahead of Toulouse on points difference, and although they have never competed in the top division in their current guise their Australian owner, Clint Goodchild, has ambitions to get them there.
Bradford Bulls would perhaps be the most controversial pick of all, considering Wood’s role as chairman until leaving to head up the strategic review, but bring prestige as four-time Super League winners.
Oldham also want to reach the top flight and although they sit in the Championship top four, they are a Grade C club – ranking 27th – and were competing in League One as recently as last year.
After Super League’s announcement, Widnes Vikings also reiterated their commitment to secure a place, though the club are ninth in the second division and 22nd under the grading system.
The decision to expand Super League has been made primarily in a bid to increase the competition’s value, it is understood.
Its current TV deal, principally with Sky Sports, runs until the end of next season and adding further clubs and an extra match per weekend, as well as getting rid of loop fixtures, is considered to be a more attractive proposition for broadcasters.
While several clubs are believed to have favoured making the change when the new deal will start in 2027, a bigger league will now be showcased the season before, during which negotiations typically take place.
The expansion of Super League may also have implications for the future of the Championship and League One, with clubs in those divisions meeting later this week to consider their structure.
A form of merger was already considered likely, with only 21 clubs set to be left outside the elite tier next season.