The current situation over in Europe regarding the Super League and its clubs isn’t looking too good. With both the clubs and the Super League itself in financial distress, NRL higher ups agreed to a secret meeting (not so secret now) with Wigan Warriors owner Mike Danson and Warrington Wolves owner Simon Moran whilst they were in Las Vegas several weeks ago.
The NRL said they would consider agreeing to a proposal to buy a 33% stake in the Super League, with the addition of also receiving complete administrative control of the Super League by the time the series starts in 2028. The plan being for the NRL to assist its international growth, but only after all Super League clubs have been spoken too about the plan before it gets formally submitted to current NRL CEO Andrew Abdo.
It’s been discussed that this plan is purely for the sake of helping the sport grow internationally, after seeing mass growth in the pacific region over the last decade. Even alluding to that once the Super League has been set up and financially independent that the NRL would willingly sell its shares back.
One of the potential models on the table could see the Super League be renamed and have a 10-club competition run across England and France, eight teams for England and two for France. Clubs down here in the NRL have also already been made aware of the current situation, with at least two clubs expressing interesting in buying into a team as owners, one of them being South Sydney.
The possibility of the seeing the sport grow internationally is definitely the highest selling point for the NRL to jump in on this proposal. Discussions are also reportedly being had on how European competition could be used a potential gateway into creating a North American market, a market that has been steadily getting more interest since the Las Vegas rounds have begun.
