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IMG grading tweaks could be made with key date set for potential changes

RFL Chief Executive, Tony Sutton.
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


RFL chief executive Tony Sutton has stated that there won't be any 'fundamental' changes to the IMG grading criteria—at least in the next year or two. However, he has conceded that there could be more 'intricate' alterations made on a year-to-year basis.

Sutton believes that it wouldn't be in the best interests of the sport to make said fundamental changes, with the first consultation process of IMG's 12-year partnership still ongoing.

All professional clubs are now judged on five pillars: performance, fandom, fianance, stadium, and community—with 15 points needed to achieve Grade A status. The top 12 highest-scoring clubs are then allocated into the Super League, with those below making up the Championship and League 1 competitions. The process then starts again for the following year, with clubs needing to match or better their existing scores to guarantee their status season by season.

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The first official scores for the 2025 season have now been handed out, with nine clubs awarded Grade A status. But such grading has come under criticism from clubs since last Wednesday's confirmation, with stadium ultilisation, TV viewership, catchment, LED screens, and more all bringing frustration. It has also come to light that play-off attendances are not counted towards the attendance criteria, despite play-off results used in the performance pillar. Elsewhere, Derek Beaumont, a longtime critic of the IMG system, confirmed the manipulation of the finance pillar to guarantee Leigh Leopards' Grade A score, with Salford Red Devils one club to air their concerns.

Speaking on the potential for criteria to be amended, Sutton said: "I think it will evolve, but it wouldn't be a great position for us to change things fundamentally in the short term. We're in the middle of a consultation period with clubs, and if it's going to be anything fundamental, my view would be that it should be at least three years away.

"It depends what it was, but if it was going to be a facility point, it would take time, funding, planning, and so on. If it's going to be something fundamental, it should therefore be an appropriate timeframe to do so.

"However, going back to another element I mentioned, if it's about a different broadcast landscape, and therefore should the thresholds change? Yes, they should. Should they be next year? Probably. I think there's a range of how it may look. It depends on what you're talking about, and we've discussed a number of things in open sessions with clubs, and rightly so because we can learn things on how the model is operated."

On the scope for more minor changes, Sutton believes there is more wiggle room. For instance, tweaks to cirteria such as attendance brackets and LED screen specifications. Hull FC were one club to air such frustrations, with the pixel pitch on the MKM Stadium's two big screens deemed not good enough for IMG despite being UEFA standard. Elsewhere, Doncaster have missed out on points due to their TV gantry being a fraction too small despite Sky using a different space.

"Those more intricate things we'll do year by year," Sutton added. "The agreement we've got with clubs is that if we're going to do that, you need to know before the season and year have started.

"The timescale between now and the end of the year is that there's an RFL Council meeting on the fourth of December; if we're going to learn things from this year and last, that should go in front of clubs at that meeting so they know then if we're going to make those types of tweaks. Anything more fundamental should be longer."

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