{"id":560126,"date":"2026-08-05T21:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T21:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/560126\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T21:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T21:08:09","slug":"super-league-closes-in-on-gamechanging-investment-from-australias-nrl-rugby-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/560126\/","title":{"rendered":"Super League closes in on gamechanging investment from Australia\u2019s NRL | Rugby league"},"content":{"rendered":"

NRL officials have arrived in \u00adEngland to hold talks with clubs as the prospect of a groundbreaking deal with Super League<\/a> nears completion, while two of the competition\u2019s heavyweights, Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves, confirmed they will lead an on-the-road weekend to Dublin in 2027.<\/p>\n

Rugby league\u2019s two premier club competitions have been in discussions for most of this year about a deal that would see the NRL invest a significant sum into Super League, while taking authoritative control of the competition in a bid to transform its long-term fortunes. That investment would also ensure the financial security of clubs. Both competitions put talks on hold while they finalised their broadcast details; the NRL has just completed a A$5.3bn (\u00a32.8bn) deal for its rights, while Super League expects to confirm in the next week how its new-look broadcast deal will be shaped. Sky Sports is expected to show two or three games a week, with the rest of the fixtures streamed or broadcast elsewhere.<\/p>\n

But the NRL<\/a> has now made Super League investment its number one priority. The Guardian has been told by multiple clubs that they have been visited by officials from Australia, or expect a visit in the coming days. The belief is that Australian figures are keen to get a deeper understanding of the mood among clubs as they consider a proposal from Super League to invest.<\/p>\n

That is the clearest sign yet that a deal is close, with Super League\u2019s leading official, Rhodri Jones, saying: \u201cWe\u2019re very hopeful that we\u2019ll make some significant progress with the NRL over the next seven days. \u201cWe\u2019ve been engaged with them since May but they\u2019ve now done their TV deal, so I can say it feels like we\u2019re their top priority.\u201d It\u2019s still with them to come back to us. We\u2019re hopeful we\u2019ll get something very soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wigan are likely to ask their former player and current Ireland rugby union coach, Andy Farrell, to help promote the Dublin match. Photograph: Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Both Wigan and Warrington, who became the first Super League clubs to make the trip to Las Vegas last year with the NRL, have long been advocates of Australian investment and governance. The Warriors\u2019 CEO, Kris Radlinski, reiterated that backing on Wednesday at the announcement of their Dublin clash with Warrington at Leinster\u2019s RDS Arena on Saturday 24 April next year. When asked if Wigan supported were still supportive of the NRL deal, Radlinski said: \u201c100%. As we have been from the start. What they\u2019re doing in the NRL is fantastic. I think it\u2019s the start of a significant few months for the sport. We\u2019re at a point where we\u2019ll find out our broadcasting future at a time when our NRL counterparts are closing in on an offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wigan and Warrington are hopeful of a capacity 20,000 crowd in Dublin, with the Warriors likely to lean on the Ireland rugby coach and Wigan legend, Andy Farrell, to help promote the game. Hull FC are in talks about moving a home game on Sunday 25 April to the same venue to make it a weekend-long event for Super League.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NRL officials have arrived in \u00adEngland to hold talks with clubs as the prospect of a groundbreaking deal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-560126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}