Channel 4 To Broadcast Super League in 2022 Super League has to announced a landmark deal which will see Channel 4 broadcast Betfred Super League matches in 2022. This initial two-year partnership will see matches broadcast free-to-air for the first time in the competition’s 26-year history.   Channel 4 will broadcast 10 live games each season, starting with eight-time Champions Leeds Rhinos hosting Warrington Wolves on Saturday 12 February (12:30). The remaining nine games will be spread across the season and will include two end of season Play-Off fixtures. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

Channel 4 To Broadcast Super League in 2022 Super League has to announced a landmark deal which will see Channel 4 broadcast Betfred Super League matches in 2022. This initial two-year partnership will see matches broadcast free-to-air for the first time in the competition’s 26-year history.   Channel 4 will broadcast 10 live games each season, starting with eight-time Champions Leeds Rhinos hosting Warrington Wolves on Saturday 12 February (12:30). The remaining nine games will be spread across the season and will include two end of season Play-Off fixtures. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

I wonder if C4 will buck the televised RL trend and give us a commentary team worthy of the name.

Well this is something different, so youve got to be a little excited by it. Let's hope its the start of a long and prosperous partnership.

Surely Adam Hills will be involved somehow, massive RL fan, plays for Warrington PDRL and hosts 'The last leg' on Channel 4. He's an obvious choice.

it wouldnt be a surprise if his involvement in PDRL has had an impact on C4 decision. He is a 1 man marketing machine on a Friday night. RL has had more coverage from him and Alex, than on any other TV station, and its all cos they love playing the game

Maybe they could bring in Johnny Vegas

If the viewing figures are a success it would be great to have a dedicated RL show on Channel 4, in the same vein as The Matty Johns Show in Aus. Adam Hills as host would be great and of course invite players in and RL supporting celebrities such as Johnny Vegas (I'm not sure he'd be the best person to have on match games as he's not impartial enough, not his fault like).

That's good news - hopefully the viewing figures are good enough to convince the channel to screen more games in the future and maybe even provide some competition for Sky as the principal broadcaster.

They might even get Alex Scott as the main presenter as she is on everything these days!

Great news, but could have been even better if it was on the BBC instead of Channel Four and all his advertisements.

But I supposed, it is a step in the right direction after so many years of having to have a subscription wth Sky to watch games!

Fingers crossed

Yip
Can't wait for a return to a TV deal that pays nothing (practically) and we can go back to being part time and 1 game on TV every 3 ton4 weeks like the good old days

Plus missing the first fifteen minutes of a game due to a delayed horse race at Kempton?

have they announced the financial side to the deal? Only scanned the announcement but didnt see it. Be interesting to see what it is

Yip
And the picture going smaller into 1 corner every 2mins as a score flash comes in at the bottom of the screen to tell us Dumbarton have equalised at Arbroath

Steady Juke. Hot beds of football Dumbarton and Arbroath. With Jeff not there next season somebody's got to keep us informed

As a Studious follower of Scotish "Ahem" Football there was no malice intended - Could easily have said Lincoln & Torquay!!!

My current 2 favourite teams to back on my Weekend Accas are Cove Rangers & Kelty Hearts - Both of whom I didn't know existed until 2 years ago!!!

Do you run a branch of her fan club as well as that of IL?

No, running the IL one keeps me busy enough

But, um all for successful/professional people being associated with our game.
Plus it would bring other benefits

On the face of it this could be a great move. It all depends on Channel 4s attitude towards it. If it's along the lines of their Cricket/NFL coverage it will go a long way to growing our game.

If I have a concern it's that (I'm assuming) they have got it on the cheap so to speak and that could go one of two ways. Either that will leave more budget for the production or they could regard it as "cheap filler".

With only a 10 game season for them, will that be enough to throw everything at it? I hope so...

Not sure about Adam Hills to be honest. It a good programme he presents no doubt but I can’t see him doing the transition to live sports. I wouldn’t mind Will Perry/Jon Wilkin/Mark Flanagan in all honesty I think that would be a good presenting team.

This can only be a good thing for the sport. It’s obvious C4 are testing the waters with 10 games a season and until that’s increased you’ll be lucky to get a ‘Matty Johns/Footy Show’ type programme. That however would be presented by Adam Hills without a doubt. I sincerely hope this takes off.

You are opposed to this, Jukes? Really?

For me, RL on free-to-air TV is what the sport has always desperately needed. If you want people who don't live in Lancashire and Yorkshire to watch the game (and sometimes I wonder about that). Twenty years too late (and well into the 'streaming era', which doesn't help), but better late than never.

As for the presenters, etc, well, the awful Sky are such a low bar, it shouldn't be hard to better them. I'm really looking forward to it.

There were a few other responses highlighting how the BBC coverage wasn't all it's remembered to be and paid nothing etc.
Although Sky have stagnated over the last 5/6 years or so - We still have to remember that without them we would be Part time etc. like back in the day and even further behind - However the RFL have to take a major slice of that issue by allowing SKY to stagnate and not providing a more vibrant/commercial game etc. and keep them on their toes

Fairy nuff. Then we are in agreement. Plenty of people appear to believe that "SL used to better", but whether they are right or not, we are where we are, and I agree that harking back to a maybe mythical past is not helpful.

I agree. Whilst in my opinion the product is not as good as it was early to mid 00's we are where we are. It's now time for the sport to improve year on year (on and off the field) in turn attracting worthy sponsorship deals and bringing new income into the game. Seeing Catalans spending big this season genuinely excites me and if we don't win anything I hope they achieve some success cause its about time the tail stopped wagging the dog.