RL chiefs consider extending league’s season
UNCERTAIN FUTURE: MAGIC WEEKEND ALSO UNDER THREAT DUE TO CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
SUPER LEAGUE could extend the season and push back the Grand Final if it can garner the support of Manchester United.
That is just one of a number of potential solutions the competition is looking at in light of the coronavirus.
Super League had initially shut down until April 3 but that was extended indefinitely in Tuesday’s joint-decision with the RFL.
Chief executive Robert Elstone said yesterday they are now looking at numerous contingency plans for when the sport does finally get up and running again, including shifting the October 10 Old Trafford Grand Final date.
Clearly, with Premier League football also in lockdown and immersed in uncertainty for the foreseeable future, that might not be a simple task.
But Elstone said: “There’s lots of work going on in terms of fixture planning and that involves pushing the season back. That’s one of the options we’re looking at. Obviously, we need support from Manchester United and other partners.
“Right now it’s impossible to know how long this suspension period will last.
“But we’re looking at a variety of scenarios that means when it does get lifted, we’re in a good place to start quickly and fulfil as many of our seasonal obligations as we can.
“We have a Super League fixture list that involves Magic Weekend, loop fixtures and playoffs and all of these generate revenue for the clubs, the centre or both.
“We’re doing all we can to protect that and one of the most material ways we can do that is by pushing back the end date of the season.
“You’ve got Challenge Cup and Test football (RFL games) to consider too and the good news is everyone is working together to find a solution that works for everyone.
“Extending the season may present an opportunity to play midweek football to a limited extent but we have to be conscious of player welfare.
“The longer it goes on the harder it will be to fulfil everything.”
Magic Weekend, due to take place at Newcastle’s St James’ Park on May 23-24, is the next big event on Super League’s calendar and Elstone admitted: “We’re preparing for the fact that Magic might well be a casualty of this.
“Without making financial commitments, we’re trying to keep our options open.
“The big imponderable for everyone in the world is how long is this going to last, and we don’t know that but it would be unwise not to think about an alternative to Magic and whether that’s at a later date in Newcastle, whether in a different format, we don’t know.
“Right now we haven’t ruled it out and fixture planning is looking at the possibility it might happen.
“But you might look at the probability of it happening as diminishing all the time,” added Elstone.
Losing the six ‘loop’ fixtures would be the most obvious solution to help the season reach its conclusion when the time comes but the Super League chief executive insisted this was unlikely.
“They generate three additional home games for every single club, and those games generate substantial revenue,” Elstone added.
“Notwithstanding the fact the fixture list will get challenging and we don’t know when we will restart, those three games are critical in the budgets of all Super League clubs and our job is to protect it as long as we can.”
He conceded the “most important thing we can do” is fulfil their obligations with Sky and they are in regular contact but, clearly, the broadcasters are battling to sort their own backyard given the total shutdown of live sport across the world.
With that in mind, although Super League has advisors working on valuations and strategy ahead of presenting their bid for a new broadcast deal after 2021, Elstone said “it would be crazy to think we’ll be talking in any great earnest with them in the very near future.”
Meanwhile, asked yesterday if he was aware of any players who had contracted Covid-19, he said:
“I’m not actually, no. In terms of frontline issues around Government advice and health initiatives, the RFL has been terrific in leading that and they’re responding to Government advice.
“In terms of positive diagnoses around the players, I’ve not heard of anything.
“But we’re in a period of extreme social distancing and ultimately players and staff are operating in isolation right now,” he said,
“If we do that diligently then this period will come to an end in the not too distant future.”
Rugby league is well in to its second week of a complete shutdown due to the global pandemic.