Super League

A "super league" competition was first mooted during the Australian Super League war as a way for Rupert Murdoch to gain the upper hand during the battle for broadcasting supremacy with the Australian Rugby League. Murdoch also approached the British clubs to form Super League (Europe) Limited. A £77 million offer[2] and an £87 million payment[3] aided the decision, and the competition got under way in 1996. Part of the deal saw rugby league switch from a winter to a summer season. The 12 founding teams of Super League were:

Initially, several mergers between existing clubs were proposed:

They were to be included with the following stand-alone clubs: Bradford Northern, Halifax, Leeds, London Broncos, Paris Saint-Germain, St Helens and Wigan.

However this proposal proved hugely unpopular as it would have meant the end of many historic and viable clubs, and consequently only existing clubs were selected for the competition. The clubs finishing below 10th in the existing top flight were excluded, which meant Featherstone Rovers, Hull, Wakefield Trinity and Widnes were left out, as were Keighley who had just won the Second Division Championship. London Broncos, who had come fourth in the Second Division, were "fast-tracked" in with the RFL arguing it was an absolute commercial necessity to have a presence in the nation's capital city. A brand new team, Paris Saint-Germain, was created to give the new league a French dimension. Between 1998 and 2000 there was no relegation from Super League.

After two years Paris were dropped from the competition. Promotion and relegation between Super League and the Rugby League National Leagues was re-introduced, and in 2002 the Super League Europe (SLE) governing body re-integrated fully into the Rugby Football League (RFL). In 2006, French side Catalans Dragons (also known as UTC or Les Catalans) from Perpignan joined the league, becoming the second non-English team to compete. To facilitate this move, two clubs were relegated from Super League at the end of the 2005 season: Leigh who finished bottom of the league were replaced by the one club coming up from the National Leagues and Widnes who finished 11th (and would have stayed up any other year) were dropped for Les Catalans, thus the number of clubs in Super League remained at 12.

Super League licences were announced in May 2005 by the RFL as the new determinant of the Super League competition's participants from 2009 in place of the traditional promotion and relegation between leagues. The licences were awarded after consideration of more factors than simply the on-the-field performance of a club.[4] After 2007 automatic promotion and relegation was suspended for Super League with new teams to be admitted on a licence basis with the term of the licence to start in 2009.[4]

The RFL stated that clubs applying to compete in Super League would be assessed by criteria in four areas (stadium facilities, finance and business performance, commercial and marketing and playing strength, including junior production and development) with the final evaluations and decisions being taken by the RFL board of directors.[5]

Successful applicants were licensed for three years of Super League competition and[6] three-yearly reviews of Super League membership took place to ensure ambitious clubs lower down the leagues can still be successful.[5]

Points attained by each club's application are translated into licence grades A, B or C. Clubs who achieved an A or B Licence would be automatically awarded a place in Super League, while those who achieved a C Licence underwent further scrutiny before the RFL decided who made the final cut.[7]

First licensing period

In June 2008, the RFL confirmed that Super League would be expanded from 12 teams to 14 in 2009,[8][9] and on 22 July 2008 the RFL confirmed the teams awarded licences.[10] The teams announced were the 12 existing Super League teams along with National League 1 teams, Celtic Crusaders and Salford. Celtic Crusaders becoming the first Welsh team to play in Super League and the only team to be awarded a licence who had never played in the Super League previously.

Featherstone Rovers, Halifax, Leigh and Widnes all failed to attain a licence. Leigh and Widnes, especially, were disappointed with their exclusions with Leigh's chairman being extremely critical of the RFL.[11]

Second licensing period

For the 2012–14 seasons Championship sides Batley, Barrow, Featherstone Rovers, Halifax and Widnes all met the on-field criteria needed to submit an application,[12] but despite this only Barrow, Halifax and Widnes decided to submit an application.[13] On 31 March 2011 Widnes were awarded a Super League licence; Barrow, did not meet the criteria and were refused a licence; and Halifax's application was to be further considered alongside the other Super League clubs.[14]

The Rugby Football League's final decision was announced on 26 July 2011, Widnes would be joining thirteen existing Super League teams with Crusaders RL having withdrawn their application and Halifax not meeting the criteria.[15] Crusaders CEO Rod Findlay stated that the club's finances were not in a good enough condition to justify their place in Super League.[16] Halifax chairman Mark Steele was critical of the decision to award Wakefield a licence over themselves, saying "If you compare Belle Vue with the Shay, it's no contest; if you compare playing records, it's no contest; and if you compare the financial position, we have kept our head above water and they haven't."[16] Wakefield had been favourites to lose their licence before Crusaders' withdrawal.[16]

At the 2013 Annual General Meeting at Bradford, the Super League clubs agreed to reduce the number of clubs to 12 from 2015, and also for a return of Promotion and Relegation with a 12 club Championship.[17]

The 12 First Utility Super League and 12 Kingstone Press Championship clubs played each other home and away over 22 "rounds", plus a Magic Weekend for both divisions, making a 23-game regular season. Following the conclusion of their regular league seasons, the 24 clubs then competed in a play-off series where they split into 3 leagues of 8 based upon league position:[18][19]

• The top 8 Super League clubs continued to compete in the Super 8s. After playing each other once (either home or away), the top 4 clubs progressed to the semi-finals to determine who competed in the Grand Final to be crowned champions.
• The remaining (bottom 4) Super League clubs and the top 4 Championship clubs competed in The Qualifiers. They played each other once (either home or away) to determine which four of the clubs would compete in Super League the following year.

Funding for clubs was tiered in both leagues to prevent relegation-related financial difficulties.

In June 2015 8 of the 12 Super League clubs voted to allow a Marquee Player that could exceed a clubs salary cap as long as they can afford their wages. The marquee player rule came into force for the 2016 Super League season.

On 14 September 2018, an EGM was called to discuss the future of the sport and a change in structure, as the clubs were in favour of scrapping the Super 8s in favour of a more conventional structure[20] . The Super League clubs voted to split from the RFL and appoint their own CEO to have more control over TV and sponsorship money as well as scrapping the Super 8s but retaining promotion and relegation to apease the Championship clubs.[21] After the 2020 season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom there were calls made from Super League clubs for the two executive bodies – Super League Europe and the RFL – to re-amalgamate.[22]

12 teams compete in Super League. They play each other twice on a home-and-away basis, interrupted by the Magic Weekend round in May. The 12 clubs also play 6 loop fixtures to bring the number of games in a season to 29. The team finishing bottom after 29 rounds collects the Wooden Spoon, and is relegated, while the team finishing first is awarded the League Leaders Shield. The top 5 teams at the end of the season enter the playoffs.

Super League adopted Golden point during regular season for the first time in 2019, bringing it in line with the NRL which had been using the system since 2003.[23]

In an attempt to expand out of the traditional rugby league "heartlands", and promote the game to a wider audience, the RFL has staged games in large stadiums in places without an existing rugby league presence. The "Magic Weekend" concept, which involves staging an entire round of Super League matches over a weekend in a single stadium, was first staged in Cardiff in 2007. Dubbed "Millennium Magic", and played in the Millennium Stadium, it proved popular with spectators and the concept was held in Cardiff again in 2008. In 2009 and 2010, the event was held in Edinburgh at the Scottish national rugby union stadium, Murrayfield, giving rise to the name changing to "Murrayfield Magic". Generally held during the May Day bank holiday weekend, 2011 saw the Magic Weekend return to Cardiff, and was this time held during the weekend 12–13 February 2011 and served as the season's opening week. From 2014 to 2018, the event was held at St James' Park in Newcastle. In 2019, the event was held at Anfield in Liverpool, before returning to Newcastle for the 2020 season.

The play-offs have had various formats. St. Helens are the only team to take part in every playoff series since the inaugural series in 1998

The current play-off system was previously used between 1998 and 2001. The same system was used in the NSWRL's Sydney Competition 1973–1994, the Australian Super League in its only season 1997, the VFL, 1972–1990 and New Zealand's Lion Red Cup, 1994–1996, and Bartercard Cup, 2000–2006.

From week two on the Top five play-offs system reflected exactly the Page playoff system.

The Top Five Super League Play-Off Structure:

Week One

• Qualification Final: 2nd vs 3rd
• Elimination Final: 4th vs 5th
• Bye: 1st

Week Two

• Major Semi Final: 1st vs Winners of Qualification Final
• Minor Semi Final: Losers of Qualification Final vs Winners of Elimination Final

Week Three

• Preliminary Final: Losers of Major Semi Final vs Winners of Minor Semi Final
• Bye: Winners of Major Semi Final

Week Four

• Grand Final: Winners of Major Semi Final vs Winners of Preliminary Final

Leeds Rhinos celebrating following their 2008 Grand Final victory

The Grand Final is the championship-deciding game and showpiece event of the Super League season. It is held annually at Old Trafford.

City	Stadium	Years
Manchester	Old Trafford	1998–2019
Hull	KCOM Stadium	2020
Manchester	Old Trafford	2021–

Largest attendance

Year	City	Stadium	Attendance
2015	Manchester	Old Trafford	73,512

The Challenge Cup is a separate cup competition, involving clubs from Super League and all levels of rugby league in Britain. It has been held annually since 1896 and has been expanded to teams in Canada, Serbia, Ireland, Russia, France, Scotland and Wales can take part. The cup runs throughout the season, and the final is usually played on the August bank holiday at Wembley Stadium. Before Super League began in 1996, the final used to take place at Wembley Stadium at the end of April or the start of May, usually 2 weeks after the regular season ended.

Super League clubs
Colours	Club	Established	City/Town	Stadium	Capacity*	Titles (Last)**
	Castleford Tigersa	1926	Castleford, West Yorkshire	Wheldon Road	11,775	0 (N/A)
	Catalans Dragons	2000	Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales	Gilbert Brutus Stadium	13,000	0 (N/A)
	Huddersfield Giantsc	1864	Huddersfield, West Yorkshire	Kirklees Stadium	24,500	7 (1962)
	Hull F.C.c	1865	Hull, East Yorkshire	KCOM Stadium	25,400	6 (1983)
	Hull Kingston Rovers	1882	Hull, East Yorkshire	Craven Park	12,225	5 (1985)
	Leeds Rhinosabc	1870	Leeds, West Yorkshire	Headingley Stadium	19,700	11 (2017)
	Leigh Centurions	1878	Leigh, Greater Manchester	Leigh Sports Village	12,000	2 (1982)
	Salford Red Devils	1873	Salford, Greater Manchester	Salford City Stadium	12,000	6 (1976)
	St Helensabc	1873	St Helens, Merseyside	Totally Wicked Stadium	18,000	15 (2020)
	Wakefield Trinityc	1873	Wakefield, West Yorkshire	Belle Vue	9,333	2 (1968)
	Warrington Wolvesab	1876	Warrington, Cheshire	Halliwell Jones Stadium	15,200	3 (1955)
	Wigan Warriorsabc	1872	Wigan, Greater Manchester	DW Stadium	25,133	22 (2018)

^a: Founding member of the Super League
^b: Appeared in every Super League season since 1996
^c: One of the original 22 RFL teams

• **includes First Division titles won prior to the inaugural Super League season in 1996, which are officially considered to be part of the Super League lineage

Former Super League clubs
Colours	Club	Seasons in Super League	First season in Super League	Last season in Super League	Last top division title**
	London Broncos	20	1996	2019	N/A
	Bradford Bulls	19	1996	2014	2005
	Widnes Vikings	11	2002	2018	1989
	Halifax Panthers	8	1996	2003	1985–86
	Sheffield Eagles	4	1996	1999	N/A
	Crusaders §	3	2009	2011	N/A
	Oldham	2	1996	1997	1956–57
	Paris Saint-Germain §	2	1996	1997	N/A
	Newcastle Thunder	1	1999	1999	N/A
	Workington Town	1	1996	1996	1950–51
	Toronto Wolfpack §	1	2020	2020	N/A

• § Denotes club now defunct

• Correct up to end of 2020 season
• Table only includes league results and does not include games in playoffs or The Qualifiers

Pos.	Club	Seasons	P	W	D	L	PD	Pts
1	St. Helens	25	663	470	15	178	7,581	953
2	Wigan	25	664	443	24	197	6,961	904
3	Leeds	25	648	406	17	225	4,815	829
4	Warrington	25	657	348	13	296	1,869	709
5	Hull F.C.	23	621	305	21	295	135	629
6	Bradford	19	509	308	17	184	3367	617
7	Castleford	23	609	282	20	307	−1,123	584
8	Huddersfield	22	584	251	14	319	-1,386	516
9	Wakefield	22	589	215	7	367	−3,824	433
10	London	20	538	195	20	323	-3,718	410
11	Salford	22	566	191	8	367	−4,794	382
12	Catalans	15	390	176	11	203	-950	363
13	Hull KR	13	320	133	10	177	-984	276
14	Widnes	11	292	97	8	187	−2,483	202
15	Halifax	8	209	76	4	129	−1262	154
16	Sheffield	4	97	37	3	57	−636	77
17	Newcastle	1	30	19	1	10	199	39
18	Crusaders§	3	81	21	0	60	−1032	38
19	Oldham	2	44	13	2	29	−378	28
20	Paris §	2	44	9	1	34	−607	19
21	Leigh	2	51	8	1	42	955	17
22	Workington	1	22	2	1	19	−696	5
23	Toronto §	1	Withdrew after 7 rounds

In 2014 and 2015 Super League clubs were unhappy with the Dual registration system and wanted to form an under-23 reserve leagues between the under-19s and first teams. Wigan, Warrington and St Helens were the first teams to propose the return of the reserve league where players could move from the under 19s and play with professional players before playing in the first team. A reserve league was set up in 2016 with a mixture of Super League, Championship and League 1 teams.

Dual registration refers to an arrangement between clubs whereby a player continues to be registered to his current Super League club and is also registered to play for a club in the Championship. The system is aimed at young Super League players who are thought to be not quite ready to make the step up to 'week in, week out' Super League first team duties but for whom first team match experience is likely to be beneficial for their development.[24]

• Only Super League players can be dual registered and the receiving club must be a club in the Championships, meaning that Super League to Super League club dual registrations are not available.
• A dual registered player will be eligible to play and train with both clubs in a format agreed between the clubs, subject to registration, salary cap and competition eligibility rules.
• The player is restricted to playing in one fixture per scheduled round of fixtures in any given week and would not be eligible to play for his Super League club on a Thursday and in a Championship fixture at the weekend, for example.
• A receiving club will be limited to five dual registered players per matchday squad.

In 2017 the following teams will run in each of the Senior Academy divisions:[25] Super League Academy – U19s:

In rugby league, the term 'the Double' refers to the achievement of a club that wins both the top division and the Challenge Cup in the same season. To date, this has been achieved by ten different clubs in total, four of which occasions have been during the Super League era.

	Club	Wins	Winning years
1	Wigan Warriors	7	1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 2013
2	St. Helens	3	1965–66, 1996, 2006
3	Huddersfield Giants	2	1912–13, 1914–15
4	Broughton Rangers	1	1901–02
5	Halifax	1	1902–03
6	Hunslet F.C. §	1	1907–08
7	Swinton Lions	1	1927–28
8	Warrington Wolves	1	1953–54
9	Bradford Bulls	1	2003
10	Leeds Rhinos	1	2015

The Treble refers to the team who wins all three domestic honours on offer during the season; Grand Final, League Leaders' Shield and Challenge Cup. To date seven teams have won the treble, only Bradford Bulls, St. Helens and Leeds Rhinos have won the treble in the Super League era.

	Club	Wins	Winning years
1	Wigan Warriors	3	1991–92, 1992–93, 1994–95
2	Huddersfield Giants	2	1912–13, 1914–15
3	St. Helens	2	1965–66, 2006
4	Hunslet F.C.	1	1907–08
5	Swinton Lions	1	1927–28
6	Bradford Bulls	1	2003
7	Leeds Rhinos	1	2015

Winning all Four Cups refers to winning the Super League, League Leaders' Shield, Challenge Cup and World Club Challenge in one season. Not all of these cups were available in the past but have replaced other cups that could be won.

	Club	Wins	Winning years
1	Hunslet F.C. §	1	1907–08
2	Huddersfield Giants	1	1914–15
3	Swinton Lions	1	1927–28
4	Wigan Warriors	1	1994–95
5	Bradford Bulls	1	2003–04
6	St. Helens	1	2006–07

The League Leaders' Shield is awarded to the team finishing the regular season top of Super League; this is also known as a minor premiership. The League Leader's Shield was introduced only in 2003, previously no prize was awarded to the team finishing top following the introduction of the Grand Final.

	Club	Wins	Winning years
1	St. Helens	9	1996, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2018, 2019
2	Wigan Warriors	5	1998, 2000, 2010, 2012, 2020
3	Bradford Bulls	4	1997, 1999, 2001, 2003
4	Leeds Rhinos	3	2004, 2009, 2015
5	Warrington Wolves	2	2011, 2016
6	Huddersfield Giants	1	2013
7	Castleford Tigers	1	2017

Super League Trophy

The winner of the Grand Final is given the Super League Trophy as Super League Champions. This is considered more prestigious than the minor premiership. Each year, the year of a champion team's triumph, team name and team Rugby league football captain are engraved.

The record for most Super League titles won is held by St. Helens and Leeds with eight titles. Leeds captain Kevin Sinfield currently holds the record for captaining the most Super League title winning sides after captaining Leeds to their first 7 grand final successes. St. Helens contested the final 6 years in a row (from 2006 until 2011) during which time they succeeded only once in lifting the trophy against Hull F.C. in 2006; after which they suffered consecutive defeats against Leeds in 2007, 2008, 2009, Wigan in 2010 and Leeds once again in 2011. However, St. Helens made a victorious return in 2014, defeating rivals, Wigan 14–6 and have since won a further two grand finals, defeating Salford in 2019 and Wigan again, in 2020.

Following their 2014, 2015 and 2020 defeats to St. Helens and Leeds, Wigan have now broken St Helens's record of losing five Grand Finals, losing a total of six. Hull FC (2006), Warrington (2012, 2013, 2016, and 2018), Castleford (2017), and Salford (2019) have all appeared in the Grand Final but never won.

The Man of Steel Award is an annual award for the best player of the season in Super League. It has continued from pre-Super League times, with the first such award given in 1977. It was renamed in honour of Steve Prescott in 2014.

The Albert Goldthorpe Medal is an award voted for be members of the press who cast a vote after every game of the regular season. The three players who, in the opinion of the reporter, have been the three 'best and fairest' players in the game will receive three points, two points and one point respectively. To be eligible for a vote, a player must not have been suspended from the competition at any stage during the season.

Each season a "Dream Team" is also named. The best thirteen players in their respective positions are voted for by members of the sports press. The 2020 dream team is as follows:

	Player	Team	Appearance
1	Bevan French	Wigan Warriors	1
2	Krisnan Inu	Salford Red Devils	1
3	Toby King	Warrington Wolves	1
4	Konrad Hurrell	Leeds Rhinos	2
5	Ash Handley	Leeds Rhinos	2
6	Jonny Lomax	St. Helens	2
7	Aidan Sezer	Huddersfield Giants	1
8	Mike Cooper	Warrington Wolves	1
9	Paul McShane	Castleford Tigers	1
10	Alex Walmsley	St. Helens	2
11	Kelepi Tanginoa	Wakefield Trinity	1
12	Liam Farrell	Wigan Warriors	3
13	Morgan Knowles	St. Helens	2

The Super League has been won by 15 coaches, 10 from Australia, 4 from England and 1 from New Zealand.

	Head Coach	Wins	Winning years
1	Brian McDermott	4	2011, 2012, 2015, 2017
2	Brian Noble	3	2001, 2003, 2005
3	Shaun Wane	3	2013, 2016, 2018
4	Ian Millward	2	2000, 2002
5	Tony Smith	2	2004, 2007
6	Brian McClennan	2	2008, 2009
7	Shaun McRae	1	1996
8	Matthew Elliott	1	1997
9	John Monie	1	1998
10	Ellery Hanley	1	1999
11	Daniel Anderson	1	2006
12	Michael Maguire	1	2010
13	Nathan Brown	1	2014
14	Justin Holbrook	1	2019
15	Kristian Woolf	1	2020

• Bold indicates coach still at club
• Italic indicates coach still active as a head coach in Rugby League but not in Super League at this time

Statistics correct as of 20 November 2020

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Games
1	Tony Smith	Huddersfield (2001, 2003) Leeds (2004–2007), Warrington (2009–2017) Hull KR (2019–present)	463
2	Brian McDermott	Harlequins (2007–2010) Leeds (2011–2018) Toronto (2020)	340
3	Brian Noble	Bradford (2001–2006) Wigan (2006–2009) Crusaders (2010) Salford (2013–2014)	321
4	Shaun McRae	St. Helens (1996–1998) Gateshead (1999) Hull (2000–2004) Salford (2007, 2009–2011)	312
5	Daryl Powell	Leeds (2001–2003) Castleford (2013–present)	295
6	John Kear	Sheffield (1997–1999), Huddersfield (2000) Hull (2005–2006) Wakefield (2006–2011)	272
7	Ian Millward	St. Helens (2000–2005) Wigan (2005–2006) Castleford (2012–2013)	228
8	Shaun Wane	Wigan (2012–2018)	208
9	Steve McNamara	Bradford (2006–2010), Catalans (2017–present)	204

Kevin Sinfield made 454 Super League appearances for Leeds Rhinos between 1997 and 2015

• Note that appearances from the bench are also included in this list. Excluding appearances in Qualifiers
• Bold indicates players still active in Super League
• Italics indicates players still active but not in Super League

Rank	Player	Years	Club(s)	Appearances
1	Kevin Sinfield	1997–2015	Leeds	454
2	Andy Lynch	1999–2017	Castleford, Bradford, Hull FC, Castleford	452
3	Paul Wellens	1998–2015	St. Helens	443
4	Jamie Peacock	1998–2015	Bradford, Leeds	438
5=	Rob Burrow	2001–2017	Leeds	431
5=	Leon Pryce	1998–2016	Bradford, St. Helens, Hull FC, Catalans	431
7	Ben Westwood	1999–2019	Wakefield, Warrington	430
8	James Roby	2004–present	St. Helens	420
9	Danny Tickle	2000–2018	Halifax, Wigan, Hull FC, Widnes, Castleford, Leigh, Hull KR	419
10	Keith Senior	1996– 2011	Sheffield, Leeds	413
11	Lee Gilmour	1997–2014	Wigan, Bradford, St. Helens, Huddersfield, Castleford, Wakefield	412
12	Danny McGuire	2001–2019	Leeds, Hull KR	408
13	Sean O'Loughlin	2002–2020	Wigan	403
14	Lee Briers	1997–2013	St. Helens, Warrington	402
15	Jon Wilkin	2003–2018, 2020	St. Helens, Toronto	385
16	Paul Deacon	1997–2011	Oldham, Bradford, Wigan	384
17	Keiron Cunningham	1996–2010	St. Helens	382
18	Danny Orr	1997–2012	Castleford, Wigan, Harlequins RL, Castleford	381
19	Jamie Jones-Buchanan	1999–2019	Leeds	366
20	Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook	2006–present	Harlequins R.L, St. Helens	361
21	Jon Clarke	1997–2014	Wigan, London, Warrington, Widnes	360
22	Stuart Fielden	1998–2013	Bradford, Wigan, Huddersfield	359
23	Richard Horne	1999–2014	Hull	353
24	Mickey Higham	2001–2017	St. Helens, Wigan, Warrington, Leigh	352

11 players have captained teams to win the Super League.

	Captain	Wins	Winning years
1	Kevin Sinfield	7	2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015
2	Sean O'Loughlin	4	2010, 2013, 2016, 2018
3	Chris Joynt	3	1999, 2000, 2002
4	Robbie Paul	3	1997, 2001, 2003
5	James Roby	2	2019, 2020
6	Bobbie Goulding	1	1996
7	Andy Farrell	1	1998
8	Jamie Peacock	1	2005
9	Sean Long	1	2006
10	Paul Wellens	1	2014
11	Danny McGuire	1	2017

An overseas quota restricting the maximum number of foreign players at each club has existed since the inception of the Super League in 1996.[32] However, overseas players that hold a European Union passport or come under the Kolpak ruling do not count towards the quota. This resulted in the number of non-British players at some clubs greatly exceeding the quota.

In response to concerns over the growing number of foreign players in the league, in 2007, the RFL announced plans to introduce a "homegrown player" rule to encourage clubs to develop their own players.[33] As of 2017, Super League clubs are permitted to register no more than five overseas players. Additionally, squads are also limited to a maximum of seven non-Federation trained players.[34]

A salary cap was first introduced to the Super League in 1998, with clubs being allowed to spend up to 50 percent of their income on player wages. From the 2002 season onwards, the cap became a fixed ceiling of £1.8 million in order to increase parity within the league.[35]

The Super League operates under a real-time salary cap system that will calculate a club's salary cap position at the start of and throughout the season:[36]

• The combined earnings of the top 25 players must not exceed £1.825 million.
• Clubs will only be allowed to sign a new player if they have room under the cap.
• Clubs are allowed to spend a maximum of £50,000 on players outside the top 25 earners who have made at least one first grade appearance for the club during the year.
• Costs for players outside of the top 25 earners who do not make a first team appearance will be unregulated.
• Any player who has played for the same club for at least 10 consecutive seasons will have half their salary excluded from the salary cap for his 11th and subsequent seasons. This is subject to a maximum of £50,000 for any one club.
• Clubs are allowed one "Marquee Player" who can exceed a club's salary cap as long as they can afford the players wages.

In 2017, Super League clubs approved proposals to increase the salary cap over the next three seasons, eventually rising to £2.1 million by 2020. Clubs will also be allowed to sign a second marquee player.[37]

Before each Super League fixture, each club must announce the squad of 19 players it will choose from by 2:00 pm on the second day before the match day.[36]

Results of the 'Big Four' during 1996–2009

Season	Bradford Bulls	Leeds Rhinos	St. Helens	Wigan Warriors
1996	3	10	Champions	Runners up
1997	Champions	5	3	4
1998	5	Runners up	4	Champions
1999	Runners up	3	Champions	4
2000	3	4	Champions	Runners up
2001	Champions	5	4	Runners up
2002	Runners up	4	Champions	3
2003	Champions	2	4	Runners up
2004	Runners up	Champions	5	4
2005	Champions	Runners up	1	7
2006	4	3	Champions	8
2007	3	Champions	Runners up	6
2008	5	Champions	Runners up	4
2009	9	Champions	Runners up	6
Titles	4	4	5	1

Results of the 'Big Four' since 2010

Season	Leeds Rhinos	St. Helens	Wigan Warriors	Warrington Wolves
2010	4	Runners up	Champions	3
2011	Champions	Runners up	2	1
2012	Champions	3	1	Runners up
2013	3	5	Champions	Runners up
2014	6	Champions	Runners up	5
2015	Champions	4	Runners up	6
2016	9	4	Champions	Runners up
2017	Champions	4	6	9
2018	9	1	Champions	Runners up
2019	8	Champions	2	4
2020	5	Champions	Runners up	3
Titles	4	3	4	0

Since its formation in 1996 only four teams have won the Super League (Bradford Bulls, Leeds Rhinos, St. Helens and Wigan Warriors). Also, only eight teams have taken part in the Grand Final (Hull FC, Castleford, Warrington Wolves, and Salford Red Devils, being the other four). Seven teams have been the league leaders, however only one of these (Huddersfield Giants in 2013) is a different team to those that have appeared in the grand final, meaning that only nine different teams in total have been involved in the grand final or topped the regular season table, however, 23 teams have taken part in Super League since its inception. The last grand final to feature two sides other than Wigan, Leeds, St Helens or Bradford occurred in 1991 when Hull F.C. defeated Widnes 14–4.[38] This had lead to the criticism that Super League is effectively uncompetitive, by perpetuating success in the hands of a small number of wealthy clubs.

In comparison, during the same period, 12 different teams have won the Australasian National Rugby League competition and 15 different teams have appeared in the Grand Final.

Between 2009 and 2014 teams had to apply for a licence to play in Super League, which was partly awarded based on a club's financial viability; this also meant there was no longer automatic promotion from the Championship into Super League. This was highly unpopular with Championship clubs, because there was no way for them to win promotion to the higher level based purely on sporting success. Consequently, the Super League came to be seen as a closed shop for its existing members, with entry based primarily on financial capability.

Attendances in the lower divisions dropped as a result of this system, because it was felt that there was little appeal in these leagues when there was no incentive for the clubs to win the Championship. Additionally, the only time that lower division clubs got the chance to play illustrious Super League opposition was in the early rounds of the Challenge Cup. With no simple route in to the Super League, teams were further unable to compete with top division opposition because there was no way those clubs could attract good quality talent when they could not offer young players the prospect of playing at the highest level.

Most of the teams that have competed in Super League have been in the traditional English rugby league heartlands of the so-called 'M62 Corridor' between Yorkshire and Lancashire. Catalans Dragons are the only team currently playing in Super League who are outside this comparatively small area.

Expansion of the sport was a key policy of the Rugby Football League when Super League was created, and has consistently been considered important for the future well-being of rugby league. However, with the exception of the above-mentioned team and the comparative long-term stability of the London Broncos, expansion clubs have not generally proved viable at the highest level. Paris Saint-Germain RL competed from the beginning of the competition but disbanded after just two seasons due to a lack of interest and investment, Gateshead Thunder had poor attendance figures and were merged with Hull after only one year in 1999, whilst Toronto Wolfpack lasted less than a full season in Super League, their financial problems exacerbated by international travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.

Sky Sports have been the primary broadcast partner of Super League since its inaugural season in 1996. The current deal lasts until 2021 and covers 80 matches per season, rising to 100 from 2015. They currently have the rights to show live Super League games in both Ireland and the United Kingdom; two live matches are broadcast each week – one on Thursday nights at 7:30 pm (kick off 8 pm) and another at 7:30 pm on Friday nights (kick off 8 pm). From 2014, they also simulcast all of Catalans Dragons' home games.

Detailed Sky coverage

• Super League Thursday starts at 7:30 pm and consists of a preview of the weekends Super League fixtures before the first game of the weekend.
• Super League Friday includes one game with coverage starting at 7:30 pm building up to the game.
• Super League Saturday usually shows Catalans Dragons games kicking off at 5:00 pm with coverage starting from 4:55 pm. When the Super 8s begin other teams are shown with coverage starting at 2:30 pm for games kicking off at 5:00 pm.

In addition to Sky Sports' live coverage, BBC Sport broadcast a weekly highlights programme called the Super League Show, usually presented by Tanya Arnold. This is broadcast to the North West, Yorkshire & North Midlands, North East & Cumbria, and East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire regions on BBC 1 on Monday nights (after 11 pm) and is repeated nationally on BBC 2 on Tuesday afternoons.[39] A national repeat was first broadcast overnight during the week since February 2008 when the then BBC Director of Sport, Roger Mosey, commented that this move was in response to the growing popularity and awareness of the sport, and the large number of requests from people who want to watch it elsewhere in the UK. The end of season play-off series is shown nationwide in a highlights package. The Super League Show is also available for streaming or download using the BBC iPlayer in the UK.

Internationally, Super League is shown live by eight broadcasters in eight countries and regions.

Country/ Region	Broadcaster
Middle East	OSN
North Africa
France	beIn Sports
New Zealand	Sky Sport
	Māori Television
United States	Fox Soccer Plus
Brazil	BandSports
Russia	NTV+
Balkans	Sportklub
Australia	Fox League

Talksport is an official broadcaster of Super League, broadcasting commentaries and magazine programming on Talksport 2. BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra covers more than 70 Super League games through 5 Live Rugby League each Thursday and Friday night.[40] Each 3 hour programme is presented by Dave Woods with a guest summariser (usually a Super League player or coach) and in addition to live commentary also includes interviews and debate. A 5 Live Rugby League podcast is available to download each week from the BBC website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrtxd/episodes/downloads.

Super League is also covered extensively by BBC Local Radio:

The competition is also covered on commercial radio stations:

• Radio Yorkshire cover two matches per round featuring Yorkshire clubs.
• BCB 106.6 (Bradford Community Broadcasting) have full match commentary on Bradford home and away.
• Wish FM have full match commentary on Wigan and St Helens matches home and away.
• Wire FM have full match commentary of Warrington matches home and away.
• Grand Sud FM covers every Catalans Dragons Home Match (in French).
• Radio France Bleu Roussillon covers every Catalans Dragons Away Match (in French).

All Super League commentaries on any station are available via the particular stations on-line streaming.

ESPN3, formerly ESPN360, has had worldwide broadband rights since 2007 when they broadcast the 2007 Grand Final.

Since 9 April 2009, all of the matches shown on Sky Sports have also been available live online via Livestation everywhere in the world excluding the US, Puerto Rico, UK, Ireland, France, Monaco, Australia and New Zealand.[41] In 2016 Livestation shut down, however these matches are also available online for UK users only through Sky Go and Now TV.

In the United Kingdom, a number of commercial radio stations, along with BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra and the local BBC radio stations simulcast commentary of Super League games on the internet. Additionally, the 5 Live Rugby League podcast is available to download each week from the BBC website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrtxd/episodes/downloads.

• Caplan, Phil; Doidge, Jonathan R. (2006). Super League – the first ten years. The History Press Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7524-3698-2.