RFL raises £50m loan proposal in talks with NRL after Super League clubs reject £35m offer
On 24 August 2026 the Rugby Football League opened talks with Australia’s NRL over radically different terms to an investment deal after Super League clubs rejected a guaranteed £35m offer, proposing instead a £50m payment-in-kind loan under a plan called Project Magic.
A document produced by Rugby League Commercial titled Project Magic was circulated to the 14 Super League club owners by RFL chief executive Nigel Wood last Wednesday, the day before they voted to reject the NRL’s proposal; the owners are due to discuss the plans at a meeting on Tuesday. Discussions between the RFL and the NRL have been ongoing since meetings in Las Vegas in January, and NRL chief executive Peter V’Landys is due to visit the UK next week in the hope of finalising a deal.
The NRL’s original offer would have provided £7m a year for five years in return for a 10% stake in Super League, with the money to be distributed to the clubs. Project Magic, by contrast, sets out the RFL’s desire to secure a £50m payment-in-kind loan rather than sell a stake in the competition. The proposed loan would be retained centrally by the RFL instead of being passed straight to individual clubs.
Project Magic presents a 10-year growth plan that includes targets to expand Super League to 18 or 20 clubs, to launch a joint direct-to-consumer streaming platform with the NRL for non-domestic markets, and to create a fully professional women’s competition. The document frames those changes as central to accelerating the sport’s development over the coming decade. The RFL’s paper sets out a coordinated programme of initiatives rather than a one-off cash distribution.
The RFL details how the £50m would be spent, allocating £13.5m to improve clubs’ commercial capabilities, £10m to the player pathway and £5m to broadcasting services, and stating the funds would be used "to fund central growth initiatives and accelerate global expansion." The proposal that the £50m be retained centrally rather than distributed to clubs may be a sticking point for many owners. That centralisation of funding is among the key differences between the RFL’s vision and the NRL’s original offer.
Clubs are divided on the path forward: larger organisations such as Wigan, Warrington and champions Hull KR are reported to be strongly in favour of partnering with the NRL, while smaller clubs like Wakefield are more sceptical about a centrally managed loan. An RFL source said the loan proposal is no longer its preferred option, but it is being considered significant enough for the clubs to discuss on Tuesday. NRL sources have described their position as "take it or leave it," and it is far from certain they would be willing to provide a £50m loan; the NRL is also pressing for governance reforms, including the creation of an independent commission to run the sport in the UK, which would further reduce the influence of the RFL.
The immediate next steps are a meeting of the 14 Super League club owners on Tuesday to debate Project Magic and the RFL’s proposals, followed by Peter V’Landys’s planned visit to the UK next week as the NRL seeks to finalise terms between the two organisations.