Super League season to be reduced, Magic Weekend faces delay

At a media briefing conducted online on Wednesday morning, Rhodri Jones, the league’s chief commercial officer who heads up the fixtures working group, said the original plan to play 27 rounds is now “unrealistic”.

The alternatives under consideration are 25 rounds, which would mean each club losing one more home game, or 23 rounds which would remove the loop fixtures and enable clubs to play each other home and away and keep Magic, although that would need the support of broadcaster Sky Sports.

“There’s a fine balance between playing too many games in terms of burdening the players but also providing a material return for season ticket holders,” Jones said.

“A 27-game round is unrealistic in terms of the load on the players and 23 feels a little light in terms of season tickets so that naturally leaves us with one left.

“At the moment, 25 is the most likely but, depending on the decision on Magic, it might be 24 or 26. Magic is the first thing we need to box off and make a call on.”

🏟️ Double headers at neutral venues are a possibility for the Championship. #rugbyleague https://t.co/F1p0hGQr25

— Love Rugby League (@loverugbyleague) January 18, 2021

The 2020 Magic Weekend was cancelled due to the pandemic and is scheduled to take place at St James’ Park on the weekend of May 29-30.

“There’s a lot of things to consider with Magic,” Jones said. “It offers six games to the broadcaster and we have an element of commercial money that comes in from it.

“We’re trying to understand the best deal we can put together, while putting that against public health concerns and the reality of how many people we’re going to be able to get in there in Newcastle.

“We’re in dialogue with Newcastle United and have asked them to consider moving it back in the calendar, at which point we’ll have to make a more informed judgement.

“We’re mindful the Premier League season begins at the start of August.”