Rugby League Ashes a North Star for the game in England
Sports are forever trying to innovate, develop and find the next mast on which to pin their colours to. But not international rugby league.
While the English domestic Super League have brought in IMG to promote and relegate teams based on a list of external criteria that some clubs already want tweaked, the international game is going back to the roots that made it so popular.
When you think of the Ashes, many will automatically assume the conversation is a cricketing one. But rugby league – albeit through Great Britain and not England – has a deep history of Ashes competition with the old enemy, Australia.
And after a 20-year hiatus, England and Australia will play a three-Test series across London and the North as the hosts look to end a 13-series reign of dominance by the tourists.
Wembley Stadium will host the opening Test before the two teams head to Everton’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium and Headingley, home of Leeds Rhinos.
Ashes a North Star
Rhodri Jones, managing director of RL Commercial, tells City PM that Everton and Headingley sold out before the general public window opened, adding that “we have sold over 100,000 tickets for the three matches”.
“It’s been over 20 years since it was over on these shores and we’ve got some really great international rugby league to come in the autumn,” he says.
“The series provides us with a real North Star to aim for and to make a huge success. People want to watch England rugby league, but also England against the old enemy Australia. It also shows that international rugby league is in good health as well.”
The RL Commercial figurehead says Wembley was an obvious opening gambit, despite some Super League figures saying the sport should ditch the London arena.
Jones cites the five-man statue of league legends outside the home of football – including recently knighted Billy Boston – as a signpost of the game’s popularity in the capital, while the strength of league in the North is beyond debate.
Warrington Wolves chief Karl Fitzpatrick told City PM that club owner Simon Moran underwrote the series to ensure it got off the ground after its 20-year hiatus, a decision – in hindsight – which could be described as a masterstroke.
Busy, busy, busy
And it kickstarts a busy period for English rugby league; the Ashes is followed by a World Cup in Australia in 2026 before visits back on these shores in 2027 by New Zealand and a returning Kangaroos outfit in 2028.
“There is a financial benefit to hosting the Australians here in the autumn,” Jones adds, “from a direct financial benefit through broadcast revenues, but also from commercial revenues, ticket revenues, merchandise revenue.
“It’s all positive for us in terms of revenue generation. It puts us in good stead for 2026 when there’s a World Cup over in Australia, so we won’t have international competition here next year. We absolutely have to make hay while the sun shines.”
The three Tests collectively could break the record for a UK-hosted Ashes series attendance, which currently sits at 140,000 from 1994. And the series, in a coup for both parties, will be broadcast on the BBC after their continued commitment to Challenge Cup and, more recently, Super League coverage.
“The broad nature of the BBC audience gives us an opportunity, from a commercial perspective, to create star players out of our England players on a national platform at the very top of the game that they’re involved in,” Jones concludes.
“Then there are all the benefits that you get from being on free-to-air, and in particular the BBC, like the weight of the BBC Sport website and their social media channels.
“There is a fine balance between free-to-air and paid but we have had free-to-air coverage now since probably the 2013 World Cup, and they’ve been fantastic supporters of international rugby.”