Super League’s Thursday night priority explained as Sky influence outlined
Sky Sports' preference for Thursday nights mean the slot will be a near-weekly occurrence in 2025.
It is one of the most divisive time-slots among Super League supporters: but Thursday night rugby league will become more of a permanent fixture than ever before in 2025.
The full Super League fixtures for next season have been published and among them, supporters may notice that there are a huge number of Thursday games.
In fact, just three of the first 26 rounds of the season will not include a Thursday night fixture. They are the week after the Challenge Cup final – when it is traditional not to have a Thursday game – Magic Weekend, because all games will be played on Saturday and Sunday, and a round later in the season when a clash meant a Thursday was unfeasible to schedule.
But Sky Sports are understood to have made the request to make Thursdays a big deal for Super League once again, despite the protestation of supporters about the logistics of travelling to and from games before the weekend.
However, for armchair supporters, it means there will be more Super League than ever before to watch on a Thursday night: with 23 rounds earmarked to have fixtures played on Thursday nights.
The first 15 of those have already been chosen by Sky, who select the Friday night fixture as their priority game for each and every round, before choosing what they consider to be the second-most attractive game for Thursday viewing.
Furthermore, Super League and Sky Sports have made a commitment to spread games over the full weekend as often as possible. That means that almost every week, Super League supporters will be able to take in games on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
RL Commercial CEO Rhodri Jones said: “We have worked closely with the Betfred Super League clubs and our broadcast partners to produce a better spread of matches across each weekend in 2025.
“It means a return to regular Thursday night Super League, with matches spread across the clubs and confirmed for the duration of the season to provide certainty to clubs and fans.
“Round One sets the pattern, with Wigan Warriors launching their title defence against Leigh Leopards on the Thursday night, followed by two intriguing Friday night fixtures in Perpignan and Hull, then a ‘Super Saturday’ double header in Leeds and St Helens before Huddersfield Giants and Warrington Wolves round things off on Sunday afternoon.
“In addition to the Rivals Round with six matches spread across the Easter weekend including the classic local derbies, and the Magic Weekend at St James’ Park in Newcastle in May, Round 20 has also been spread across two weekends in late July and early August – again, minimising the number of fixture clashes, and allowing fans to watch more action, either at the grounds or through broadcast coverage.”
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