A NEW season of Super League kicked off on Thursday night with an eventful Hull derby, won by the team from the east of the city, Hull Kingston Rovers.
The encounter set the scene for the 2024 campaign, which is one of the most eagerly anticipated in some time, in part due to expanded TV deals and unprecedented global access to each game.
The BBC will be showing Super League games for the first time, broadcasting 10 games via its TV channels and a further five via its digital services and website.
As association football’s FA Cup announced that it will no longer be broadcast on ITV or the BBC, moving all games to subscription channel TNT Sports from 2025/26, rugby league is increasingly embracing free-to-air channels.
Several games were shown on Channel 4 last season, while the Challenge Cup is a staple of the BBC’s sports offerings, including games on iPlayer from the early stages of the competition involving amateur teams.
It is an important move for the sport in this country. With an increasing number of other sports moving behind paywalls, it is an opportunity for rugby league to increase its viewership.
Becoming one of the few sports that maintains a presence on free-to-air TV should serve it well, and may also lead to more interest in the game as a whole.
Next Saturday, the BBC will show the World Club Challenge between last season’s Super League Grand Final winners, Wigan Warriors, and NRL premiers Penrith Panthers who won a memorable NRL Grand Final against Brisbane in 2023.
On top of this terrestrial TV coverage, the league’s usual, long-time broadcaster Sky Sports will for the first time be showing every game in this season’s competition.
There is increased international coverage across five continents, North America, Australia, Africa, and Asia as well as Europe, and games are also available via the league’s new subscription streaming platform, SuperLeague+, everywhere bar Australia.
There are plenty of star players and stars in waiting in Super League, who this new national and international audience will now have the chance to watch each week.
One of them, Hull KR’s Mikey Lewis, was named Man of the Match in the first game of the season against Hull on Thursday.
The 22-year-old Hull-born halfback is tipped for a big year in 2024 and got off to a good start as his side won 22-0 in an eventful if one-sided game.
“All them KR fans, it’s a credit to them,” Lewis said after the game. “To come here and not let [Hull FC] score again is an unreal feeling for us.
“Look at them [fans]. They are unbelievable. As soon as we came out for the warm-up, you couldn't hear anything else.
“They travel away with us, and we’re looking forward to seeing them back at home next week.”
The game witnessed two sendings off for Hull FC, and players from each team were sent to the sin bin.
The side from the west of the River Hull may find some comfort in the fact that things can’t really get any worse after pretty much everything went wrong for them in this season opener.
“It seemed like everything that could go wrong, did in the first 40 minutes — but some of it was self-inflicted,” said Hull FC coach Tony Smith.
“Some of the errors we came up with and penalties we gave away to let our opponents out of their half were too easy. Those are things we can control.
“That’s not to discredit our opponents in any way, shape or form. They were too good for us tonight. They deserved it.”
The opening round of games continues today with the 5.30pm kick-off between Castleford Tigers and Wigan Warriors shown live on BBC Two ahead of that big Super League v NRL clash next week.
It looks set to be a big year for Super League, one which is accessible to more viewers than ever before.
