Super League set to land new long-term free-to-air TV deal ahead of 2024 season – reports
A snapshot of St Helens head coach Paul Wellens talking to BBC Sport ahead of a game in 2023
Reports have emerged that the BBC are set to strike a three-year TV deal as Super League’s new free-to-air broadcast partner, with at least 12 matches to be shown each season.
From the 2024 season onwards, the Daily Mail report that those games will be screened on Saturday evenings on BBC Two, with 5.30pm kick-offs.
As per the new ‘norm’, every game in Super League next season will be broadcast live in some form, with all fixtures having a video referee in place.
The deal, running until the end of the 2026 campaign, would complement Sky Sports‘ coverage as the competition’s main broadcaster.
Channel 4 have been Super League’s free-to-air broadcaster over the last two years, but appear to have been pipped to the post in the race for a new rights deal by the BBC.
Super League set to land new long-term free-to-air TV deal with BBC ahead of 2024 season – reports
As well as the 12 regular season games, additional Super League games will be available to watch via BBC iPlayer, while two play-off games will also be shown on terrestrial come the end of the campaign.
The Daily Mail also report that the BBC will also be screening the World Club Challenge on February 24 between Wigan Warriors and NRL champions Penrith Panthers. That will be in addition to Sky Sports‘ coverage of the clash.
The BBC already hold the rights to show some games in the Challenge Cup, and are also expected to extend that deal until the end of the 2026 season.
This coming Saturday – January 13 – sees a tie from the first round of the men’s edition of the competition broadcast live by the BBC on both iPlayer and the BBC Sport website as the Royal Air Force host the Royal Navy in an all-Armed Forces clash (12.30pm KO).
Last week, the RFL confirmed that The Sportsman will broadcast 20 games in the upcoming season spanning League 1, the Challenge Cup, Women’s Super League and Wheelchair Super League.
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