For armchair fans there will be no shortage of Rugby League action to watch on the box in 2022.
The announcement of a deal with Channel 4 to show Super League matches free-to-air for the first time is just the latest development in the broadcast landscape for the sport next season.
Sky Sports will still show the majority of live Super League fixtures, with 66 games exclusively live as part of a two-year deal beginning in 2022, including every match at the Magic Weekend and the Super League Grand Final.
But Channel 4 will also now show 10 matches in each of the next two seasons, including two play-off matches, on free-to-air TV.
That will give the game extra exposure, though Sky will still have the first pick for every round of fixtures as well as their choice of match in each of the play-off rounds.
It is the first time that Sky have shared the rights after 26 years of being the exclusive broadcaster of Super League.
The figure of 76 matches live on TV could yet grow if an agreement could be reached with a French broadcaster to show Catalans Dragons and Toulouse Olympique matches and a reciprocal arrangement is put in place with Sky as in past seasons to televise those matches in England.
It is not just Super League getting the live action in 2022 though, with the Championship securing its own exclusive deal with Premier Sports to televise the second tier.
They will show one match in each of the 26 regular-season rounds of fixtures, plus every match from the Summer Bash and end-of-season play-offs.
Premier will also show seven live Challenge Cup ties, sharing rights for the competition with the BBC who will broadcast at least the same number, including the final and both semi-finals.
In addition, the BBC will continue to show the Women’s Challenge Cup and Wheelchair Challenge Cup finals as part of a deal that runs through to 2024.
As for the NRL, Sky are entering the final season of a five-year deal signed in 2018 to show matches every week from Down Under.
OurLeague is also expected to continue to provide streaming coverage of other areas of the game, including the Women’s Super League and League 1.
And when the domestic season comes to an end, the World Cup will mean even more Rugby League on TV with the BBC committing to showing each of the 61 matches in the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments across its channels.
