Super League’s fixtures for the 2026 season will be released on Thursday with no confirmation on what happens to the team who finishes bottom of the competition due until next month.

The league will expand to 14 teams next year for the first time in a decade, with Bradford Bulls, York Knights and Toulouse Olympique being promoted and Salford Red Devils being relegated to the Championship.

However, there has been no clarification on whether IMG’s gradings system, which determined the majority of the line-up for 2026, will be the sole metric that will define what happens at the end of next year. Speculation has suggested a combination of league position and gradings would decide who is in Super League in 2027.

And that uncertainty will continue beyond the publication of the fixtures later this week, which will be released in full on Thursday morning at 8am.

As it stands, no clubs know whether or not finishing bottom would result in automatic relegation to the Championship – which means clubs in the second tier are also waiting to discover if there is even any way to secure promotion up to the top-flight at the end of next year.

When asked by Love Rugby League whether or not a decision had been reached, RL Commercial CEO Rhodri Jones said: “The stock answer there is that it’s to be determined still.”

However, Jones conceded a swift decision must be reached well in advance of the season kicking off in February – before hinting that could come following a Rugby Football League Council meeting at the start of next month.

He added: “It’s fair to say that determination needs to happen before the start of the season. That will come over the next couple of weeks and months.

“RFL Council is on the 9th of December. There will be preparation in advance of that and discussions come the 9th of December.”

Jones was also pushed on whether or not IMG would be supportive of another shift in going back to some form of automatic promotion and relegation, adding: “They are strong believers in the gradings system. There’s a chance to always live and learn from previous iterations but we’ve not got into that with them at this point.”

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