IMG Grading for the Rugby Football League is a set of proposals set out in 2022 by the British Rugby Football League's new strategic partner IMG, in which all clubs playing in the professional levels of the British rugby league system will be graded, with their rank determining which division each club will play. The proposals were accepted by a majority vote of British rugby league stakeholders in 2023 with implementation starting in the 2024 season.
The grading in the new system will see:
Grade A clubs will be guaranteed a place in Super League, and will be exempt from relegation. Grade B clubs will be eligible to participate in Super League, and the highest ranked Grade B clubs will occupy the remaining slots. Grade C clubs will be ineligible for Super League thus can only compete in the Championship and League One.
Grades will be reassessed annually.
This will be the second attempt to introduce a "Super League licence", with the first being introduced in 2009 and scrapped in 2014 after two cycles.
Voting Voting for this proposal occurred on 19 April 2023. All 35 British RFL clubs of the 2023 season received a vote, with Super League clubs' votes being more heavily weighted. A further seven votes were given to representatives from the community game in tiers 4 and 5 of the British rugby league system. With an overall majority needed to pass, along with a majority in each voting block (Super League, Championship/League One, and Community Game). The proposal passed 86% to 14%.
Opposition Championship sides Barrow, Batley, Featherstone Rovers, and Keighley, and League One sides Hunslet, Dewsbury, and West Wales voted against the proposals, Whilst Salford and Whitehaven abstained from the vote.
Keighley, who had been extremely vocal in their opposition of the proposal since the start, and the only club who voted against the plans even being discussed, released a statement accusing IMG of "blinding" rugby league with "nice presentation[s] and big words", citing that their proposals "will be the death of Championship, League One, and other heartland clubs" and that the proposal was "underfunded" and had zero marketing plans, in addition to accusing IMG of "masquerad[ing] on false promises" and "lies".
Despite voting in favour of grading, London Broncos owner David Hughes released a statement opposing the grading system in January 2024. He cited that the inclusion of grading had "[condemned the] club to relegation before a ball has even been kicked" and as a result removed the "jeopardy and drama" from the sport. Hughes was particularly agreved with the points the club gained for catchment, being "the lowest possible", despite being the only professional team in the South East. He also affirmed that "promotion and relegation should be a staple of all sports".
Criteria
Each club will be awarded a maximum of 20 points across five categories:
Fandom (5 points): Includes match attendance, TV viewership, social media following, and website visits. On-field Performance (5 points): Assessed on league position over the past three years with bonus points for winning the Grand Final and Challenge Cup Final. Finance (4.5 points): Assessed on profitability, financial stability, and a diversification of revenue streams. Stadium (3 points): Stadium and other facilities would be assessed. Community (2.5 points): Assessed fanbase vs fanbase potential, as well as assessing community and charity work.
15 points is needed for Grade A status, while 7.5 is needed for Grade B.
Changes to league structure IMG main aim is to have the Super League made entirely of Grade A clubs and by grading clubs it highlights areas they are to improve on. Having expressed plans to expand Super League it is possible that if and when more than 12 clubs were Graded A then the league would expand to keep these clubs out of the Championship as Grade A clubs are exempt from relegation. Following a statement where the IMG claimed that the chances of the Championship Grand Final winners being denied promotion were "very remote", doubts were shed over how the system would work, as initially it was understood that the remaining Super League places would be taken up by the highest ranked Grade B clubs, however this statement suggested that so long as the Championship winner and bottom placed Super League club were both Grade B promotion and relegation would occur as normal. Neither IMG nor the RFL had clarified either of these issues before the system's first implementation.
2024: Implementation in practice Promotion / Relegation Following the 2024 season, Wakefield were promoted. They were Championship Grand Final winners as well as the highest ranked Championship club, and the only Championship club to achieve Grade A. London were relegated after finishing last in Super League, and were also the lowest ranked Super League club, achieve Grade B. Thus, no answers of the above unknown were given.
Expansion Following the 2024 grading, Rugby League Commercial Chief Rhodri Jones stated that on current trend, Super League would expand to 14 teams for the 2026 season with more than 12 Grade A clubs predicted. However, this would be subject to a vote from current Super League clubs.
2025: Promotion / Relegation proposal Ahead of the 2025 season, a proposal is to be discussed which would see any Grade B Championship winners automatically promoted and replace the lowest ranked Grade B Super League club, and would see Super League expand if all 12 were Grade A. During the reporting of this, it was also stated that many clubs believed this to be the system at current.https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/promotion-relegation-rugby-league-meeting-9707206 However, this proposal was rejected by an unknown majority vote by stakeholders.https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/super-league-promotion-relegation-vote-30513333https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportlatest/24772284.super-league-promotion-relegation-rejected-rfl/
Grades 2024 Indicative Grades Clubs' grades for 2024 (awarded in October 2023) were indicative, meaning they would have no bearing and were given out for illustrative purposes to aid clubs in making necessary improvements for the first 'official' grades in 2025.
The 2024 grades were released on 25 October 2023 and saw seven clubs (all Super League) awarded Grade A, 17 clubs awarded Grade B, and 11 clubs awarded Grade C. London Skolars withdrew from League One after the 2023 season and did not receive a grade, while Newcastle Thunder, who had also announced a likely withdrawal after being relegated to League One but were aiming to keep a place in the league, still received a grade. RankClubDivisionPoints colspan="4" 1 Leeds RhinosSuper League 17.49 2 Wigan Warriors 16.87 3 St Helens 16.78 4 Catalans Dragons 16.73 5 Warrington Wolves 15.75 6 Hull Kingston Rovers 15.52 7 Hull F.C. 15.05colspan="4" 8 Salford Red DevilsSuper League 13.80 9 Huddersfield Giants 13.49 10 Toulouse OlympiqueChampionship 12.97 11 Wakefield Trinity 12.52 12 Leigh LeopardsSuper League 12.45 13 Castleford Tigers 12.16 14 Bradford BullsChampionship 12.02 15 Featherstone Rovers 10.65 16 Widnes Vikings 10.17 17 York Knights 10.05 18 Newcastle ThunderLeague One 9.30 19 Barrow RaidersChampionship 9.18 20 Halifax Panthers 9.06 21 Batley Bulldogs 8.62 22 Sheffield Eagles 8.36 23 Doncaster 8.11 24 London BroncosSuper League 8.07colspan="4" 25 OldhamLeague One 7.39 26 Swinton LionsChampionship 7.21 27 Dewsbury Rams 7.10 28 Rochdale HornetsLeague One 7.03 29 Hunslet 6.94 30 Keighley Cougars 6.58 31 Workington Town 6.54 32 WhitehavenChampionship 6.27 33 Midlands HurricanesLeague One 5.92 34 Cornwall 5.75 35 North Wales Crusaders 5.07
Club responses
Barrow Raiders: Barrow released a statement fully detailing the scores received in each criterion, and its aims to improve on particular areas including attendances, social media engagements, on-field performance and finance. The club also noted it would be awarded an extra 0.5 points due to a change in local authority area that was originally not accounted for, and an inability to improve its Craven Park home was a barrier to entering Super League and "the time is now right to consider other options". Bradford Bulls: Bradford released a statement, claiming the grading "should leave no one in any doubt that the single biggest impediment to getting our club back to the Super League is the absence of an appropriate 21st century facility", calling for council support to develop Odsal Stadium to become a viable stadium for the Super League. Castleford Tigers: After submitting incorrect data in a form to the RFL which it claimed cost it half a point, Castleford appealed its grade, however this was rejected. Castleford accepted the ruling with assurance that should the error be rectified, the club's score would improve in 2024. Featherstone Rovers: Featherstone reiterated its previous criticism of the grading concept, arguing in a statement that it would "protect the status quo and actually have the reverse effect on Clubs like ours in terms of investment to reach the top level". Halifax Panthers: Halifax stated it was "content" with its rank of 20th and declared its goal to increase its score to 10.5 in 2024. Keighley Cougars: Keighley called its rank of 30th an "insult" and additionally called for a merger of the Championship and League One competitions.
Leeds Rhinos: Leeds released a statement welcoming the provision of a Grade A status. Chief executive Gary Hetherington said the club was "pleased" but would "not be complacent" about areas for potential improvement. London Broncos: The London Broncos ended its elite academy to focus on improving other areas of the club, as the academy would not factor into its grading. North Wales Crusaders: Chief executive Andy Moulsdale claimed the Crusaders' bottom ranking was not a "fair reflection" of the club's progress after it had barely missed promotion to the Championship in 2023. He said the gradings "make it increasingly harder for League One teams to reach Super League". Salford Red Devils: The club's ownership stated it was "pleased" to receive a score of 13.80 and there was "lots to be positive about". Whitehaven: Chief executive Barry Morgan said the club was "disappointed" with its score, particularly its community score, claiming the club was heavily involved in community organisations and events and he did not know "what else a club has to do to improve its score of 0.75 out of 2.5".
2025 The grades for 2025 were released on 23 October 2024. The grades were the following:
RankClubDivisionChangePoints colspan="5"1 St HelensSuper League 2 17.022 Wigan Warriors 16.913 Leeds Rhinos 2 16.844 Warrington Wolves 1 16.275 Hull Kingston Rovers 1 15.976 Catalans Dragons 2 15.527 Leigh Leopards 5 15.138 Wakefield Trinity 3 15.099 Castleford Tigers 4 15.02 colspan="5"10 Hull F.C.Super League 3 14.5111 Huddersfield Giants 2 14.4812 Salford Red Devils 4 13.9713 Toulouse OlympiqueChampionship 3 13.5814 London Broncos 10 12.6515 York Knights 2 12.4216 Bradford Bulls 2 12.1517 Barrow Raiders 2 11.2218 Featherstone Rovers 3 10.7519 Keighley CougarsLeague One 11 9.0220 Halifax PanthersChampionship 8.7921 Sheffield Eagles 1 8.7722 Widnes Vikings 6 8.6023 Doncaster 7.52 colspan="5"24 Workington TownLeague One 7 7.2625 Swinton Lions 1 7.1526 Dewsbury Rams 1 7.1327 OldhamChampionship 2 7.0028 Hunslet 1 6.9829 Rochdale HornetsLeague One 1 6.4730 Midlands Hurricanes 3 5.6631 Cornwall 3 5.2932 Newcastle Thunder 14 5.2033 North Wales Crusaders 2 4.72 colspan="5" Batley BulldogsChampionshipIncomplete data submission WhitehavenLeague One Goole VikingsNew club; no data to submit
Changes Grade B to A: 3 Clubs Grade A to B: 1 Club Grade C to B: 1 Club Grade B to C: 1 Club Grade B to Unranked: 1 Club Grade C to Unranked: 1 Club
Effect on Super League status