{"id":789630,"date":"2026-10-02T12:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T12:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/789630\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T12:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T12:40:14","slug":"bradford-bulls-make-major-odsal-pitch-decision-as-ceo-explains-seven-figure-reasoning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/789630\/","title":{"rendered":"Bradford Bulls make major Odsal pitch decision as CEO explains seven-figure reasoning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Bradford\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Bradford Bulls CEO Jason Hirst has revealed that the club will not be altering the pitch dimensions at Odsal Stadium, confirming that the \u201cseven-figure\u201d cost would directly undermine their playing budget.<\/p>\n

The famous West Yorkshire venue has long drawn complaints from visiting head coaches over its unique shape and shortened dead-ball areas. However, as the Bulls prepare for their second season back in the top flight, Hirst has made it clear that squad investment takes absolute priority.<\/p>\n

Addressing the pitch size, Hirst explained that while the club explored potential modifications, the financial outlay simply could not be justified.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact is that our pitch meets the RFL requirements other than the shortened dead-ball area, which we have special dispensation for, like other West Yorkshire clubs,\u201d Hirst stated in an interview with local paper\u00a0The Telegraph and Argus that was shared on the club\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn an ideal world, we\u2019d like the pitch to be wider and longer, but will that happen in this close season? No, it won\u2019t. We explored the opportunity to do it, but the quote was seven figures, and we don\u2019t have a million pounds to spend on that, unless we take that away from the playing staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Super League Grand Final Preview Show and Man of Steel winner debated \u2013 Click here to watch the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show!<\/a><\/p>\n

Jason Hirst prioritises squad building as Bradford Bulls gear up for Super League return<\/p>\n

Hirst emphasised that diverting capital towards ground alterations would severely hamper their recruitment drive, pointing to major star signings as proof that funds are better utilised on the field.<\/p>\n

Most Read on Serious About Rugby League<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be signing James Bentley and Ligi Sao, and if we weren\u2019t spending that money on bringing in players, we\u2019d struggle to win a game,\u201d Hirst explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis close season is about strengthening our squad, and it doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019ll have the best one, because we don\u2019t have the money the likes of Wigan do, but we\u2019re confident we\u2019ll have a better season on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe we delivered what a lot of people thought was unrealistic, Super League back in Bradford for 2026, but to move to the next level will be challenging. I\u2019m confident we can do it if we get the people of Bradford behind us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bradford Bulls CEO Jason Hirst has revealed that the club will not be altering the pitch dimensions at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":789631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-789630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}