As rugby league’s Super League competition celebrated its 30th anniversary last month, some commentators have been reminiscing about the ‘good old days’ while others have welcomed the transformation of the sport in England that the competition has brought about, claiming it brought league back from oblivion.
It’s worth remembering what the sporting landscape looked like back in 1996. The football Premier League had been launched in 1992, driven by Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB (now Sky). Murdoch viewed sport as the avenue into living rooms to drive the sales of satellite dishes, and subscriptions, and the sports bosses were very happy to have his money. The BSkyB deal was worth £304 million to football clubs over five years – the previous English football deal had been worth £44 million over the preceding five years.
Outside of the UK, both Murdoch and his fierce rival Kerry Packer had also been making substantial financial deals in Australian sport, famously in cricket but more poignantly in rugby league. In 1996 the sport in the UK hadn’t really changed much in the previous 100 years since it was invented in 1895, as a break away from rugby union in a dispute over player payments. The amateur/professional distinction between the two codes in the UK had served both well for decades. High profile union players had been lured to league to try and cash in on their talent, but union remained the most popular form of rugby throughout the nation.
The situation changed massively following the launch of the Premier League and the media moguls’ investments in other sports, as union players began to realise they were not being sufficiently rewarded for their relatively short careers. The clamour from union players to change the game to a more professional outfit became overwhelming, and rugby union turned professional in August 1995.
For the first time in its history, the tables turned on rugby league, as league’s brightest talents started to be poached into the union game. The likes of Jason Robinson and Henry Paul swapped codes and quickly became established union internationals, with the ability to now earn more than they did in league. Scott Gibbs and Scott Quinell, having started their careers playing union, then swapping to earn money in league, also both decided to switch back to union.
Rugby league by contrast was struggling. In the early 1990s the sport had dwindling attendances, poor facilities and was dominated by one club, Wigan, who had won the title for the previous seven seasons. This led to fans turning their back on the sport, meaning less money for league to compete with union and the future looked very bleak for the 13-man game.
A revamp was needed, and it came almost via the back door from Rupert Murdoch. His Super League in Australia was attempting to gain broadcasting supremacy over the Australian Rugby League (backed by Kerry Packer), in what became known as the Super League War. Murdoch had the rights to first division rugby league in England, and in an attempt to gain the upper hand in global rugby league broadcasting he approached the Rugby Football League. Money talked and, aided by an £87 million payment, it was agreed to launch the English Super League in 1996.
It was the boost that the sport needed, and administrators grasped the opportunity to also revamp the very essence of league. The most innovative of the revamps was to switch the sport from winter to summer, reducing the competition for fans with football and union, while also improving the spectacle of the sport by removing the stodgy displays on muddy pitches in December, replacing them with sunny days and hard pitches in May, making it quicker, free-flowing and providing more scoring opportunities.
In addition to the calendar switch, squad numbers were adopted, video referees were at every televised game and a salary cap was introduced to produce a more level playing field. In a nod to the US, clubs adopted nicknames and league seasons became known as a Roman numeral rather than a year.
30 years on, has the gamble paid off? Looking at the attendances over Easter weekend of ‘Rivals Round’, the answer is a resounding yes. The round delivered three sell-out crowds and an aggregate attendance of over 80,000, with attendances already up 13% from the same time in 2025.
Sky Sports continues to pay for the domestic rights to the competition, and other broadcast agreements means that Super League can now be viewed in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, Dubai, France, Spain and the Caribbean. In an additional sign of confidence, the 2026 competition has expanded from 12 teams to 14.
For a sport that was in serious trouble in 1996, it has been transformed by Super League, found its own niche in the congested sports calendar and is producing a financially sustainable product that fans and television executives are wanting to invest in. It remains somewhat ironic that such a divisive Australian as Rupert Murdoch has become the saviour of English rugby league – a fact that probably isn’t regularly celebrated across the north of England.
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David Little is a Partner at Bishop & Sewell in our expert Sports Law and Corporate & Commercial
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The above is accurate as at 9 April 2026.
The information above may be subject to change. The content of this note should not be considered legal advice, and each matter should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
