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Rugby League Review Suggests Moving Challenge Cup Final Away from Wembley
A wide-ranging review of rugby league has recommended that the Challenge Cup final should consider leaving its historic home at Wembley Stadium.
The club-led strategic group, commissioned by the Rugby Football League (RFL) in March last year, has produced a list of 144 recommendations which will now be discussed with key stakeholders over the next two weeks.
The Challenge Cup final was first staged at the original Wembley Stadium in 1929 and, aside from 2022, has been played there every year since the rebuilt stadium reopened in 2007. However, the review noted that attendances have failed to exceed 65,000 since 2017 and suggested the sport should explore alternative venues for the showpiece occasion.
This season’s Challenge Cup final will still take place at Wembley on Saturday, 30 May.
Among other recommendations, the review supported the current structure of the competition, with Super League clubs entering at the round of 32 stage and being drawn away to lower-league opposition. The group advised that this approach should continue.
The review also addressed the long-term future of Super League, which returns to a 14-team competition this season, beginning on Thursday, 12 February. It called for a long-term strategy to further expand the top flight, but only when the sport can sustainably support growth both financially and operationally, including player development and club funding.
Concerns about rugby league’s commercial growth were highlighted last October when Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys warned Super League was heading towards a “train crash” without improved revenue streams. He also criticised the exclusion of London Broncos and questioned the viability of future expansion.
The strategic group further recommended taking high-profile fixtures to neutral venues both domestically and overseas. Wigan and Warrington played in Las Vegas last season, while treble winners Hull KR will face Leeds Rhinos at the Allegiant Stadium this year.